


Curiosity Kills the Capitalist

by MorMor_Fanfictions



Category: Jurassic Park (Movies), Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Claire/Owen (slow burn), F/M, Ian/OFC (established), alan/ellie (established), some smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-05 00:14:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4158348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorMor_Fanfictions/pseuds/MorMor_Fanfictions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm are invited back to Isla Nublar to witness the opening of Jurassic World. Things go about as well as they expect, forcing them to try and survive the dinosaurs once again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ian's Invitation

Lara expected the boat to be crowded with excited patrons, but that didn’t stop her from making sarcastic remarks about them to Ian as the people swarmed aboard. Many nervously chattered about what they might find on the island and Lara noticed a few people glancing back at Ian, although no one said anything directly to him. She nudged her companion with her elbow, their code for the taller man to lean down so that she could whisper to him. 

“I can only imagine what’s going through your mind right now.” 

He laughed, fixing his glasses while surveying the sea of people before leaning in to reply.

“I never thought I’d, uh, be back. So I shouldn’t judge.”

“That never stopped you before.”

The park employees herded the people onto the boat; they tried to give her and Ian a separate compartment, but he simply waved them away. Instead he grasped her hand tighter and led her through a particularly loud group to reach the side of the boat. As the captain began to maneuver them out of the Costa Rican coast the crowd seemed to calm, though Ian could not.

“This is gonna end up the same way. We shouldn’t have agreed to come.”

“You’ve already seen the dinosaurs, it’s my turn now.” She grinned playfully, but the look on Ian’s face made her think the joke may have overstepped some invisible boundaries, “Christ, Ian, you know I feel the same way about this new park. Inevitably something will go wrong, but at least they have higher security now.”

Ian scoffed, dropping her hand so he could gesture vaguely towards the ocean as he spoke.

“No, right, maybe they have some concrete walls now instead of electric fences. Practically Fort Knox.”

“This park probably has more money than Fort Knox.” Lara said, scanning across the first floor of the boat which already looked like a cattle car even though the park would only have limited admittance this week.

Ian laughed hollowly, but nodded in agreement. The waves jarred his glasses up and down the bridge of his nose as they passed through a rough patch of water, making Lara nervous that they might fall overboard though Ian himself paid little mind. He was on edge to be returning to the island, but Isla Nublar beckoned once more. 

//

Since they moved in together, Lara had become accustomed to finding stacks of mail addressed to “Dr. I Malcolm” on their coffee table. He never liked to answer anything and since all bills were in Lara’s name, he rarely sorted through the envelopes with urgency. He would occasionally pick through his mail for anything interesting or leave it to pile up until Lara made him go through it. The letters from Mr. Masrani sat in one such pile for weeks until the envelopes began to tumble to the carpet if either of them so much as looked at the stack. Only then did Ian finally sit down, scotch in hand, to sort through the mess. 

Lara had just come from the shower when Ian called down the hall for her. With her wet hair dripping down the back of a T-shirt she curled up beside him on the couch and tried to get a good look at the fistfull of letters in his hand. 

“Take a look at this.” He told her, handing her an opened one.

Before she read even a word of the letter, she caught sight of the logo on the top and threw Ian a confused glance.

“Keep reading.”

They both had heard of this new theme park and initially Ian had tried to spearhead a movement against it, but eventually the excitement from the public grew to be overwhelming and people seemed to forget about a dinosaur rampaging San Diego overnight. Lara was shocked to see an invitation to the very place they both fought from the beginning. Yet here it was, barely a page long request that “Doctor Ian Malcolm and his plus one attend the opening weekend of Jurassic World.” 

Ian tossed the other letters from Mr. Masrani onto Lara’s lap.

“If you don’t want to go you can just say so.” He joked, but his smirk was already fraught with worry.

Lara said nothing, but quickly picked through the remaining letters. They all said the same thing, only asking for a response more urgently as time passed. Finally, once she had opened them all, Lara looked up to Ian who had been watching her intently.

“I want to go.” She said quietly.

He laughed, looking around the room as if their furniture might suddenly animate and let him in on the joke. When it didn’t, he pulled off his glasses and ran his fingers through his dark hair with a sigh.

“Honestly? After everything i’ve told you about that island, you want to see it for yourself?”

“You’re not the least bit curious?” Lara asked, relocating the letters to the coffee table once more.

“Curious to see the latest product of venture capitalism? Time and time again they prove that this can’t work, yet they keep trying”

“If you don’t want to I would never try to convince you, but once tickets go on sale to the public I would consider going just to see.”

“Well the last thing I want is you going alone…” He mused, leaning forward to refill his glass.

//

The boat docked so effortlessly into the harbor that Ian almost missed the wild helicopter that threatened to drop from the air at any sign of wind. Nostalgic as he might have been in that moment, at least the smooth ride signified that the park worked out some of the flaws of the old one. 

Upon first glance the island might have looked like any other beach resort, but the faint growls and roars made it clear that this park offered much more than horseback rides across the beach. 

“Millions of years of human evolution and now they run towards the predators.” Ian remarked.

They were nearly the last of the boat, allowing the others to excitedly run off the pier before they strolled down the docks. Shortly after, they followed the masses up the stairs to the main center of the park. 

As soon as the rows of restaurants and stores came into view, Ian heard Lara curse under her breath. It felt as though they were walking down central Los Angeles, the only difference being the tongue in cheek dinosaur allusions that cropped up in every turn. He too had a similar response, but swallowed the thought as he saw a woman walking towards them.

“Doctor Malcolm!” The woman greeted, clutching a tablet against her chest, “I’m Claire Dearing, I run the day to day operations of the park.”

“No offense, Ms. Dearing, but shouldn’t you have more important things to be doing then?” Ian replied, shaking her hand. 

Claire took the comment in stride, offering a warm smile in return. “We have a very capable team here at Jurassic World.”

She led them down the boulevard, explaining the fundamentals of the park, but Ian and Lara were still taking in the sheer number of businesses operating here. If it weren’t for the dinosaur themed merchandise hanging out of every vendor, they might’ve mistaken it for a strip mall. Ian could only hope that Hammond’s visitor center had remained true to its namesake’s dream.

“I can take you both to see the control room if you’d like.”

“Lead the way.” Ian nodded.

He remembered what the control room of the original park looked like and hoped that this “team” had better background checks than the last had. As soon as they walked in Ian noticed that they must have at least tripled the manpower. Whether or not that meant they increased the security remained to be seen. 

“Oh! Doctor Malcolm, sir?” A man leapt from his computer when he saw Ian and rushed over to shake his hand. “I’ve read your books.”

“And yet you still work here?” He laughed, but it was apparent to Lara that the statement wasn’t entirely in jest, “It’s nice to meet you.” 

The man looked like he wanted to say something else, but caught Claire’s glare and excused himself before sinking back into his chair. With the interruption over, Claire continued to explain the safety precautions. What she said seemed impressive, but all Ian could hear was “we spared no expense”.

Before taking her leave, Claire showed them to their hotel room and gave them a small box.

“These are you wristbands.” She said, “We’d encourage you to view the park’s attractions, those bands will allow you to skip lines. Your luggage should be delivered momentarily. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to meet Doctor Sattler and Grant at the docks.”

“You managed to talk them into coming?” Ian raised his eyebrows.

“You were the difficult case, Doctor Malcolm. They didn’t need multiple letters.” Claire smiled for a last time and left the room.


	2. A Chance Encounter

The next morning Ian woke just as the sun began to break through the thick curtains. He sat up against the headboard for a moment, watching the rise and fall of Lara’s chest and thinking that she had no idea what she had gotten herself into. 

Last night they had explored the visitor center on their own, none of the dinosaur attractions would be open until the morning so they couldn't stray very far. All in all, it was a very peaceful, entertaining night. The pair wandered through the exhibits, slightly drunk after going to dinner at the Margaritaville. The visitor center was fairly empty, allowing them to mess with the computers unperturbed. Lara had pulled up several holographic dinosaurs, spinning the image around on the middle of the floor and laughing every time Ian told her that they were “nothing compared to the real thing”. 

Alan and Ellie were nowhere to be found, leading Ian to assume that they had turned in early for the night. After another drink, Ian conceded that they ought to do the same. Hungover wouldn’t be the best way for Lara to experience dinosaurs for the first time so Ian took the glass from her hand, downing it himself because, hey, he had a higher tolerance. 

Now Ian finally gained the motivation to leave the comfort of the sheets. It was only a little after six, but he knew there was no chance he would fall asleep again so he resigned himself to the day. As quietly as he could, he undid the latch on his suitcase to find his clothes. Vaguely hearing Lara stir as he zipped his pants. 

“Ian?”

“Shh, it’s only six. You can go back to sleep.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m just going to find coffee, all right? I’ll be back in a minute.”

She mumbled groggily, pulling the sheets closer to her. Ian found his wallet on the nightstand, slipping it easily into his back pocket before clasping his watch around his wrist. He tried to limit the noise he made as he left the room, even though he knew Lara would be fully awake as soon as the lock clicked shut. Somehow she could go from sound asleep to alert and dressed in a matter of minutes. It was convenient when he called at 2am, already waiting in her driveway to take her somewhere, but after they moved in together he felt guilty for making her a slave to his sometimes erratic schedule.

Not far from their room, Ian recalled seeing a little cafe. Upon locating it again, his first challenge was completed, but the second one consisted of whether or not it was inappropriate to order an Irish coffee so early. After a moment of deliberation, he decided that it probably was and ordered something plain for him and Lara. 

As the woman passed Ian the drinks, he happened to notice two familiar faces out of the corner of his eye. Seated at a small table, Alan and Ellie looked as if they were going through a map of the park. 

“I didn’t think I’d see either of you here.” Ian remarked as he pulled out an empty seat at the table.

“I could say the same about you.” Alan replied, grinning at the sight of him.

“Ellie, always a pleasure to see you.” Ian winked, not very subtly.

“Are you a caffeine addict now, Malcolm?” She asked, nodding her head towards the twin cups.

“Maybe not caffeine, one’s for Lara”

“No one could have predicted she would have you doing coffee runs, hmm?” Ellie teased.

“Did you, ah, finally read my book on Chaos Theory?”

Ellie smiled sheepishly before shaking her head.

“I did read God Creates Dinosaurs though.” Alan put in.

“See? Someone appreciates the effort.” 

The three caught up briefly and made plans to travel into the main park together before Ian excused himself to deliver the ever-cooling coffee.

Back in the hotel room, Lara was nowhere to be found. The bed was made and her suitcase had been unpacked, but she did not appear to be waiting for his return. 

“Ian? Is that you?” Lara called from the balcony, there was a hint of something odd in her voice. Not fear, but an unusual note that was enough to make Ian cautious.

“Are you, uh, outside?” 

He had set the drinks down and was already pulling open the balcony door as he spoke; he found Lara standing against the railing, looking down at the foliage in awe.

“What is it?”

She said nothing, but pointed down at the trees. Ian adjusted his glasses, trying to see what she was looking at when a long neck poked through the tree line just feet from where they stood. Lara jumped backwards in surprise, bumping into Ian.

“What is it?” She echoed his question.

“Alan’s the expert, not me.” He smiled knowingly at her wide-eyed expression.

He knew the sense of disbelief that she felt. Even after he had seen the dinosaurs and knew for a fact that they existed, there was something astonishing in the sight of those enormous creatures ambling around the flora as if nothing had changed in sixty five million years. As much as Ian condemned the scientists that made this possible, he couldn’t help but respect these animals that had no say in their resurrection.

He let her watch the dinosaur pull leaves from the nearby trees for a moment before reaching to take her hand.

“Come on, it’s a dinosaur park. You’ll see more.”

//

Dr. Grant dropped down on the monorail seat beside Ian, looking over fondly at the women talking animatedly after not seeing each other for well over a year. 

“We got married, you know.” Alan said, twisting the gold band on his finger.

“I noticed, I thought she, uh, married a lawyer?” 

“It didn’t work out. I almost proposed to her after we got off Isla Nublar that first time, but things were complicated after that. I’m glad I got the chance again.”

“Is this the honeymoon then?” Ian asked.

Alan laughed, “We went to Florence. It’s a little less dangerous there.”

The monorail slid noiselessly on its tracks, gliding to a gentle stop in front of the enormous “Jurassic World” gates.

“Just like the old ones.” Alan remarked as the gate opened for them.

Ian found himself unusually subdued as he leaned against the windows, watching the trees sway calmly in the wind and remembering the way the trees shook and ripped from the ground as the T-rex tore through the forests. Every now and then the monorail would drive by a stretch of concrete walls that signalled the end of a particular enclosure. From their height Ian couldn’t be sure if they had just passed over a dangerous beast or something much tamer and he found the thought unsettling. 

Beside him, Alan continued to mess with the brochures and pamphlets he picked up from the visitor center. He kept crinkling pages and unconsciously making noises whenever he read something interesting, which made Ian raise an eyebrow to him several times. 

“Raptor Training.” Alan read off the map, articulating each word as if they came from two separate foreign languages.

“What poor bastard looked at those and thought they were trainable?”

“They’re intelligent enough, maybe too intelligent to let themselves be turned into an animal act.”

“Isn’t that Seaworld’s job?” Ian replied, grinning at his own joke.

Alan said nothing, instead he folded the map over to find the attraction he was looking for before passing it to Ian.

“My god, they have their own Shamu.” Ian looked at the Mosasaurus stadium with thinly veiled disapproval.

//

So this is the third time for each of us, then.” Alan said, jarring Ian once again from his thoughts.

“Even though we both said never again after the first time.”

“Ellie and I, we tried to forget it. Hammond paid for our research like he promised so we tried to go back to the dig and pretend we hadn’t just become obsolete.”

“Well what happened?”

“We kept seeing you everywhere. Every time we turned on a television someone was talking about you, even if they didn’t believe what you said. I thought about breaking that non-disclosure contract, but we didn’t want to risk losing our greatest source of funding.”

“I don’t blame you for not coming forward.” Ian replied, “They would have just dragged us both through the dirt.” 

“That doesn’t matter anymore, after San Diego everyone knew you were right and we all got brought back into things anyway.”

“Why did you go back then? You didn’t have to, you became the world’s leading dino expert overnight. You could have had all the funding you needed. Hell, you could have had children’s shows and a line of lunchboxes if you wanted.”

“The same reason you did, I guess.”

“I went because Sarah was in danger.” Ian said tensely. 

Alan looked at him as if he didn’t fully believe that answer, though Ian pretended not to notice.

“Why come back now, then?”

Alan shrugged, “Curiosity?”


	3. Into the Park

The monorail finally eased to a stop, letting the group off in the middle of a courtyard that branched off into several pathways; each path was accompanied by an informational sign and a cartoonish silhouette of a dinosaur. The courtyard itself could have been considered an attraction, colorful plants sprung up from neatly arranged patches while more still roped along the massive fountain at the center of the courtyard like the hanging gardens of babylon. 

Immediately Ellie was was drawn to the fountain; before the other three had scarcely left the station she was already turning a large leaf over in her hand.

“Is it an extinct plant?” Lara asked, finding it hard to phrase the question when the plant was clearly alive in front of her.

“It was at one point.” Ellie answered, dropping the leaf to pick up a different one, “I think all of these are from the same time period, too. Someone paid attention to detail this time.”

A few feet away Alan seemed to take interest in the signs, despite having been the only one of them to view the map for any prolonged period of time. Methodically he moved from one path to the next, bending at the waist until his nose was inches from the painted words and making Ian, who had been watching the proceedings from a distance, question whether or not he had begun needing glasses. 

“They have a triceratops petting zoo!” Alan called, whipping around only to be caught off guard when he saw Ian smirking at him. 

“Already done that.” Ellie replied without looking up from the plants.

“You have?” Lara asked, “Ian never mentioned that.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“Malcolm was closer to death than any of us and he doesn’t like to talk about it. After what happened it’s easier just to think that there were no redeeming qualities about Jurassic Park. When you’ve been fighting for your life against the carnivores it’s easy to forget about the gentle ones.”

“From what I understand, neither you nor Alan made it out unscathed. But you still think this is a good idea?”

“No, it was never a good idea.” Ellie laughed, “Ian was very black and white from the beginning, I hoped that Hammond would prove him wrong.”

Lara wanted to press further, but saw Ian coming around the bushes.

“If you’d like to spend the day looking at plants then that’s fine by me, but Dr. Grant seems to be hell bent on seeing some circus raptors.”

“Velociraptors?” Ellie asked.

“Evidently they do tricks.”

//

When they reached the paddock, they could see little more than the concrete walls. The raptors themselves were oddly silent, making it impossible to guess what was being kept within the cage without prior knowledge. 

There was a ladder hanging off the side of the scaffolding which looked akin to a fire escape. The lack of landscaping or aesthetic features implied that the park aimed for function over beauty in this attraction.

A man came around the the side of the enclosure, wiping his hands on a dirty rag that hung from his belt before extending a hand to Alan.

“Dr. Grant, we thought we might see you here.” He said, shaking Alan’s hand before repeating the gesture with the others, “I’m Barry. I help take care of the raptors.”

“Do you train them as well?” 

Barry shook his head, “Owen does that, he bonded with the animals like none of us could have imagined.”

Ian glanced over at Lara, mouthing the word “bonded” as if she had any more of an idea as to what Barry meant than he did. She shrugged, following Barry as he led them to the metal ladder.

“Before we open this to the broader public we should have stairs instead.” He remarked, looking down over his shoulder as he climbed. 

Ian was the last up the ladder and consequently the last to see into the paddock. Before he even had both feet on the scaffolding platform, Lara was already gesturing excitedly for him to look at something. 

In the enclosure beneath them, four velociraptors stood as a pack in a little clearing. Each one had their own distinctive markings as if someone was given four black and white outlines of the beast and told to color them as they saw fit. One stood slightly forward from the group, cocking its big, blocky head and staring up at the catwalk with piercing eyes. 

About fifteen feet above the raptors a man stood, holding out his hands and occasionally shouting a command. Steadily he moved his left hand, bringing it high above his head, and all four raptors traced the movement slowly with their entire heads. His hand lingered for a moment before it shot down to his side as he yelled another command and the animals dispersed in a hurry. Each ran in separate directions into the foliage, jaws opening and closing to flash its sharp teeth and making an odd sort of clicking sound. 

Almost instantly Alan was at the man’s side, shaking his hand and asking questions. 

“Almost two years, they’ve been inseparable since birth.” Lara heard the end of the man’s answer as they caught up with Alan, “I’m Owen Grady, Claire said you guys might be interested.”

Ian was still looking uneasily over the railing, catching a glimpse of a tail or the bobbing of their heads as the raptors darted around the plants.

“You think you can control them?” Ian asked.

Owen laughed, “God, no. They’re still wild animals, even if we made them that doesn’t mean we can predict how they’ll act. We had noticed that they’re capable of understanding orders and respond well to positive reinforcement. They’re a bit like puppies really; you can teach them to sit and roll over, but there’s still a chance that they’ll sink their teeth into you.”

“Big, lethal puppies. Huh.” Ian replied sarcastically, but he was relieved to find that Owen held no delusions about the dangers he faced. 

“What kind of dynamic exists within the pack?” Alan asked, “Have you had a chance to study their predatory behaviors?”

Owen leaned easily against the thin railings watching a slightly reddish raptor, utterly calm and nonplussed by the carnivores patrolling below him. 

“There’s no alpha out of the four if that’s what you mean.” He answered after a moment of thought, “Sometimes one will try to, you know, take charge, but then the others will put her back in place. We feed them by releasing a live animal, usually a pig, so that they can hunt kinda like they would in the wild. They operate like a team, really well coordinated. I think if there was an alpha among them, then that kind of hunting technique wouldn’t work as well.”

“Could we maybe see?” 

“Yeah! Of course.” Owen nodded, “I should’ve introduced you to the girls earlier.”

He whistled sharply and within seconds all four raptors appeared before him once again. Even Ian had to admit that Owen certainly looked like he exerted control, even if he didn’t think it was possible in the first place.

“Here’s Echo, Delta, Charlie, and Blue.” Owen said, pointing from one raptor to the next with his left hand while his other hand was extended forward to seemingly keep them in place.

He called back to Barry to release a pig. 

The raptors were quick to pick up on the squealing; their heads perked up, turning their attention from Owen to a heavy gate on the side of the enclosure. Owen dropped his hands and the raptors eased out of formation. Their tails flicked upwards as they formed a semicircle around the gate. Alan worried the raptors would pick off the lone pig as soon as it ran out of the gate and deny them a show. 

With a faint sound of turning gears, the gate eased open and the pig darted out in a flash of pink. Rather than attacking it immediately, the raptors let it run by them without so much as moving a claw toward it. Then, as the pig disappeared into the bushes, the raptors sprung into action. They moved as if they were of one mind; they did not operate like they had specific roles, but rather they sensed where they were needed and moved to close gaps in their approach. 

It was astonishing to watch; the animals weaved in and out of the plants, obscuring their view momentarily until the pig darted back into the clearing only to be followed closely by one or two of the raptors. The pig raced back into the bushes for the last time, blocking Alan’s view of the final kill. They heard only the frenzied squealing of the pig as the raptors made little noise when one clamped its powerful jaws around the animal’s fleshy neck. 

“That’s Charlie.” Owen pointed out as the raptor trotted back into the clearing with the dead pig hanging from its mouth. 

The other three all came into view again, circling around Charlie to get to their kill. Each raptor tore a chunk off the pig, tossing it into the air as they devoured it. Blood flowed down Charlie’s teeth and jaw as she finished off her section of the meat and made a high pitched barking noise that was imitated by the others. 

For a moment after the raptors dispersed everyone just watched the paddock silently. Owen grinned, playing unconsciously with the knife on his belt as he tried to gauge their reactions.

“It’s a brutal thing to see for the first time, but I guess I don’t need to tell you guys that.”

“No, that was amazing.” Alan said, “It’s different being on this side of the fence.”

“Do you think you could stop them if it was you walking out of that gate instead of the pig?’ Ian questioned.

“I haven’t tried.” Owen shrugged, “Maybe.”

Ian wasn’t as optimistic, after his own experiences with the raptors and seeing them tear into that pig, there was no doubt in his mind that the animals would tear into any living thing put in front of them. However, he swallowed his reservations and participated with the others as the posed questions to Owen and talked animatedly about the raptor’s behaviors. 

The time would inevitably come when this charade fell apart, even if Ellie and Alan were quick to forget the inherent flaws. So he decided to let Lara have this moment of naive thrill, he could wait to be proven right.


	4. Rexy

Owen leapt down the ladder, taking the rungs three at a time before dropping down onto the dirt behind the others. 

“How much of the park have you seen so far?”

“Not much.” Ellie answered, “This is the first exhibit we stopped at.”

“Well, I consulted for most of the paddock designs for the big animals, I could show you the T-rex if you’d like?”

Before leaving he called Barry over, handing him his personal tranq gun with instructions to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary. He led them to a garage a few meters away from the raptor enclosure and threw open the metal door to reveal his jeep.

“The park is pretty big and the monorails weird me out a little.” He explained, fishing around in his pocket for the key. 

Though each wanted to, none of them asked him to elaborate. Instead they followed him into the little shed. Alan was quick to jump into the passenger seat, leaving the two women and Ian to quietly squabble over who would take the middle seat in the back. Lara knew from the outset of the argument that once Ian and Ellie started arguing there would be no stopping them, so she reluctantly settled into the little seat before they could get into full swing.

“Charlie, Delta, Echo. Why isn’t Blue named Bravo?” Lara asked, leaning forward on her knees to avoid the claustrophobic seats. 

“You caught that.” Owen smiled, “Originally all the names were based off the NATO phonetic alphabet for clarity, but we couldn’t use Alpha because it would be confusing if a true alpha came out in the pack. So we moved on to the rest of the alphabet. She was supposed to be Bravo, but when she hatched she had those long blue stripes so I took to calling her Blue and it stuck among the other guys.”

“So you nicknamed a dinosaur.” Lara said, chuckling, “What do you call the T-rex?”

“She didn’t get an actual name, but most of the guys started calling her Rexy.”

The jeep hurdled down a bumpy back road that must have been designed for maintenance workers None of the roads were marked, but somehow Owen knew where to turn when the only landmarks were trees. At one point Owen suddenly veered off the road, taking them through a dirt path until they emerged back in the main park.

“This was the first attraction they finished.” Owen said as they pulled up in front of a building.

It looked like the park planners had put serious work into disguising all the safety precautions in this attraction. Unlike the raptor enclosure, the entrance to the T-rex paddock looked like it might have been the facade of a museum. The building was almost entirely concrete for functionality, but there was more attention paid to the design. Tall columns reached nearly twenty feet in the air to support the heavy domed roof and a long staircase led up to the door that reminded Lara more of the supreme court building than a zoo. The style contrasted greatly with the modern look of the park, as if they were paying homage to the prehistoric ruler with the renaissance imagery. 

Latticework on the exterior walls encouraged vines to snake up and over the dome, covering the white concrete in a mossy green. Large purple and orange flowers burst from amongst the wide leaves and made it seem like the building had been left to the mercy of the jungle, even though there was evidence of a groundskeeper. 

Inside was a striking return to modernity. As Lara walked through the entryway it felt as if she was trapped between two worlds that should not coexist. The viewing section was stark white with clear benches sitting against the wall, the only break from the monochrome was a guard sitting at a control panel in the corner of the room. Separating them from the prehistoric world that Masrani tried so hard to recreate was a wall of glass that ran from floor to ceiling.

“To the Rex the viewing platform looks like a big hollowed tree, the builders tried to make everything as natural as they could for her.” Owen explained

Ellie put a hand against the glass, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head with her free hand to squint into the enclosure. There was a clearing at the base of the windows so that visitors could peer in, but beyond that it was hard to see much through the thick ferns. She craned her neck to see if any of the branches were shaking, but everything remained still. It occurred to her fleetingly that the dinosaur could very well be watching them from behind the tree cover and they would be none the wiser.

“How thick is this glass?” Ian asked as if he sensed her nerves. 

“Each pane is a full inch thick and it’s double paned and five layers thick. Oh, it’s bulletproof too.” Owen added as an afterthought.

Ian was no contractor, but that sounded pretty thick. As for the bulletproofing, he was immediately struck by the thought of a T-rex wielding a handgun.

Owen went through the safety features of the paddock, occasionally pointing at something in the enclosure or prodding the security guard to hit a key on his computer. It was clear to him that not even Dr. Malcolm was listening past the first few minutes and slowly faded into the background; everyone was too preoccupied searching for the T-rex to think of anything else. 

“We feed her in this area to encourage her to stay around the windows.” He explained, “Want to throw in a goat and see if she’ll come by?”

He was already signalling to the guard to do just that when Alan stopped him. Owen joined them all by the window, nearly pressing up against the glass to see what they were looking at. 

Just off to the right of the viewing center the trees began to shake as the large creature made its way over. The T-rex stayed close to the walls of the paddock as if she were trying to sneak up on them, but the sound of snapping branches and heavy footfalls gave her away. 

Though the T-rex was still out of sight everyone seemed to know she was coming and didn’t dare say a word. Unconsciously each leaned further forward as they tried to catch a glimpse of her. 

After what seemed like hours a brownish head slowly came into view. Her nose poked through the leaves, flaring her nostrils and leaving a trail of condensation on the glass as she moved. A row of teeth poked over the closed jaw, hinting at what lay within. Lazily she made her way across the clearing, staying close to the wall. Against the window they could feel the ground shake after each step and the tremors only grew more intense as the T-rex drew nearer. 

As her entire head came into view they saw an enormous eye flick back and forth in its socket, not quite able to tell where they were. Her jaw hung open, now bearing her full set of teeth as she searched for them. The brownish grey of her pebbled skin was so close to the window that they could practically count each wrinkle and scar. 

Ian felt a moment of intense panic as he stared into the yellowness of her eye. In that moment he was overcome by the urge to grab Lara and run. It took everything in him to ignore that fight or flight instinct and stand his ground. There was something about meeting the eye of such a formidable creature that was equal parts terrifying and remarkable. His blood ran cold, but as the fear subsided he felt a surge of adrenaline. 

“Can she see us?” Lara whispered.

“I don’t think so.”

He had never had a chance to see the T-rex so close before. His injured leg throbbed dully as if to remind him of the last time he had been so close to the beast. 

The T-rex continued to stalk past them, apparently unhurried by their stares. As she turned to trot off into the dense jungle again its heavy tail swung around and smashed into the glass. 

They stumbled backwards in surprise, but the glass showed no evidence of the hit. Lara laughed nervously as the dinosaur began to pick up speed and darted out of view again.

“Wow.” She was entirely lost for words.

“I know.” Alan replied.

They were silent for another moment, hoping that the T-rex might return, but it became clear that she would not and the atmosphere in the room began to return to normal. 

Ian let out a deep breath as he grappled for something sarcastic to say, but ultimately found nothing. 

“Is there only one T-rex?” Lara asked Owen.

“Currently, yes. We had two, but the younger one ended up dying.”

“Are they territorial?” Alan asked, already looking poised to add the fact to his research.

“Actually quite the opposite.” Owen clarified, “When we put the two together they wouldn’t go further than a few meters from the other and they started acting pretty strange.”

“Strange?”

“Yeah, they would run from one end of the enclosure to the other and ram into the walls at full speed. Sometimes bashing headlong into trees like a rabid dog.”

“Does this rex still do that?”

“Oddly enough, no. The behavior stopped once its friend died.”

Alan found the information curious, adding it to his list of things to record when they returned to the hotel room. He couldn’t remember ever seeing more than one mature T-rex at a time and wondered if fossil records might be able to shed some light on the strange behaviors.


	5. The Malcolm Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some sexual content in this chapter

By the time Owen took them around to see some of the smaller paddocks the sun had begun to set and evening was rolling in. The stars had just barely started to appear in the sky, mingling with the orangey pink colors and accompanied the waning daylight. 

Then the park lights clicked to life, bathing the group in a fluorescent white light as they walked along the path to the visitor center. After seeing the T-rex, they had traveled with Owen to see a few of the herbivore enclosures before stopping into a slightly tacky themed restaurant. Now with the natural light slipping away they took their leave of the raptor trainer.

Owen stood in front of the visitor center momentarily before moving on, watching people amble around the shops and restaurants. It was strange to see the park so full of civilians after seeing only other park employees for the last few months. He felt out of place, like he was breaking the illusion by being there. But then again, this wasn’t exactly Disney World. 

It was no surprise when Owen found Claire in the control room long after most of the staff left for the night. During the day, most of the seats were filled to ensure that everything ran smoothly for the guests, but at night only a handful stayed to keep the status quo while everyone was asleep. 

When he found Claire she was leaning against a row of desks near the back of the room, fatigue clearly showing on her face. Owen checked his watch as he stepped through the open door, it was far later than she needed to be here.

“Just because you can be here doesn’t mean you should.” Owen announced himself, catching her off guard.

She hurriedly got to her feet as if Owen would chastise her for looking tired despite knowing that he would be the last to say anything. 

“So, you met Dr. Grant and the others today?” Claire asked, refusing to acknowledge his statement.

“How did…” He was interrupted by Claire pointing a finger at the large screens on the wall.

“What did you think of them?” She continued.

“Think of them as in if they’re good people or if they’d be willing to help you?”

She gave him a look that clearly said “you know which”. Owen lifted himself up to sit on a desk, raising an eyebrow to Claire until she gave in and sat beside him.

“I mean do they think we’ve fixed what Hammond started?” She softened her question.

“I think if you’re looking for a celebrity endorsement from some famous paleontologists then you chose the wrong ones.”

“Owen, no. Not endorsements.” Claire sighed, running a hand through her short hair, “Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant would be incredibly useful on our panel of scientists.”

“Have you asked them outright?”

“Of course not. I’ve worked with researchers like them before, they just want to go about their own business. Even if that business is ostensibly funded by our corporations, they don’t want to feel like they’re being bought by them.”

“How does Malcolm fit into it?”

“I’m going to show them the new virus tomorrow. If we could only convince Dr. Malcolm that the park is safe then half our battle is already won.”

“You keep talking about this new virus without explaining exactly what it is.”

“I’m not a scientist.” Claire waved him off.

“But you must know what it does.”

“Dr. Wu understands it far better than I could hope to. It gives me an excuse to show them the lab anyway. You’re welcome to join us if you really want an explanation.”

“Are you inviting me along?” Owen teased, nudging her playfully with her shoulder.

“Do you need me to email you an animated e-vite?”

“Just making sure I understood you right.”

“Yes, you’re invited.” Claire smiled in spite of herself. 

“Then I’ll see you in the morning.” He stood up, waiting for her to do the same, “Come on, you can leave the office every once in a while. Everything will still be here tomorrow.”

Claire obliged and let him guide her out the door, well aware that he was watching over her shoulder to make sure that she signed out of the system for the night. 

“Good, now get some sleep.” Owen grinned and they said their goodbyes for the night.

 

//

Lara toed off her beat up Nikes and pulled out her hair tie to let her dark hair fall freely past her shoulders. She leaned against the wall as she watched Ian shrug off his jacket and bend to untie his shoes. The buttons of his shirt were undone so far that Lara almost laughed, if she had a professor like him when she was in college then her experience with math might have been very different. 

Ian caught her gaze and paused just long enough to give her a chaste kiss. 

“They didn’t eat us yet.” Lara grinned at him.

“You know Chaos Theory better than that to know not to judge a system at first glance.”

She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, “I’m not a chaotician.”

“You’ve listened to me for long enough that you could likely give better lectures than my colleagues.” He spoke characteristically slowly, pausing and dragging out his thoughts in a way that might annoy strangers, but Lara found amusing. 

She was on tiptoes to reach the taller man, leaning heavily on him for support as they kissed. 

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it.” Lara said quietly, breaking away to plant kisses along his jawline, “These dinosaurs are more interesting than university lectures.”

“Professional curiosity, nothing more.”

He led her to the bed, equalizing their height difference as they sat. His hand already wandered down the inside of her thigh, stopping just short of crossing the denim barrier of her shorts. 

“Nah, you just like the adventure.” Lara toyed with the collar of his shirt.

“My work just happens to bring me to these unstable systems.”

“I see no cracks”

Ian pulled her onto his lap, lips just barely ghosting across her bare neck as he mumbled, “At first glance, the cracks may not be obvious.”

Lara smiled lasciviously, turning her head to capture his lips. She swung her long legs around to straddle him, pressing her body flush against his. Her fingers were entangled in his curly hair as she deepened the kiss. His hot mouth moved aggressively against hers, but nothing about his pace seemed needy. 

She felt slightly lightheaded when he broke away to kiss her neck, wanting nothing more than to surrender herself to him. However, she was familiar with this particular brand of seduction and knew that it wouldn’t be that easy. 

His hands moved unhurriedly down her body until he reached the hem of her tanktop. Gently he tugged the fabric upwards, pulling it over her head. She felt his fingers toying with the clasp off her bra before that too gave to his whims. 

With her bra cast aside Ian had unrestricted access to her bare breasts. He kissed down her collarbone, working his way down until he reached her nipple. Lara’s anticipation grew as she felt his fingers pressing against the soft skin, moving methodically closer to her more sensitive areas.

“But sudden changes can appear.” She bit back a gasp as she felt his lips on her breast.

Her breathing was beginning to become labored. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck as she tried to swallow her moans. Her hips rocked against him, begging for an end to the teasing. Ambivalent to her desperation, Ian’s fingers slowly made their way to the button of her shorts. 

She wanted to leap out of those shorts if it meant that Ian might move faster, but every time she squirmed he slowed his pace. He unzipped her just enough to snake a finger into her panties. 

“Ian, please!” She hissed through gritted teeth as he started rubbing her clit. 

He gave no sign that he heard her, but slipped a second finger down the front of her panties. Lara grasped at the back of Ian’s shirt as she rocked her hips, trying to get more friction. 

And suddenly he stopped; Lara whimpered at the loss of contact. He pushed her off his lap, onto her back on the bed, so he could drag her shorts and panties off. They fell in a crumpled pile onto the floor, but she wasn’t paying attention to that. 

Ian resumed his pace and Lara’s breathing became more and more erratic. 

“Inevitably, instabilities begin to appear.” He said as calmly as if he were giving a lecture.

“Ian.” She moaned, dragging out his name, “Just fuck me.” 

He gazed at her predatorily as his long fingers slid into her, causing her eyes to flutter shut as she let out another moan. As he picked up a rhythm, Lara was beyond words. If he was trying to prove a point, she couldn’t tell. His words were becoming increasingly lost on her as she drew nearer to an orgasm. 

She arched against his fingers, trying to increase stimulation as she realized she was about to come. In gasps she begged for any variety of things: faster, harder, him. 

“Do you remember the Malcolm Effect?” He sped up the movement of his fingers to illustrate his point. 

Lara shouted in shock and arousal, too close to the edge to care about being quiet. Her hands searched for anything to grip on to, settling for grasping at the bedsheets. 

“System recovery may prove impossible.” 

She came hard, her entire body shaking with pleasure. She panted and gasped for air over his words, swearing under her breath. Her mind cleared after a minute and she was able to sit herself up. Ian smirked as he watched her recover. 

When it looked like she might have been able to form words again, Ian leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth. 

“I’ve never explained Chaos quite like that.”

“Fuck, I need a shower.” She let out one last deep breath.

//

By the time Ellie returned from the shower Alan was already sitting at the small desk, pen in hand. He scribbled some notes into the margins of a notebook, looking up as he heard the door open.

“That didn’t sound like typical Tyrannosaur behavior.” Ellie said as she walked up behind him, draping her arms over his shoulders as she bent to read what he wrote.

“We don’t know much about ‘typical’ behavior.”

“Suppose so.” She conceded, “Maybe a particular illness?”

“Ellie, we aren’t here for work. This is supposed to be a vacation.”

“You know it isn’t though. Obviously they want something, I’m just not sure what it is this time.”

“Of course they do, that doesn’t mean we have to give it to them.” Alan grinned, “Illness doesn’t account for the sudden cessation anyway.” He added. 

“Look who’s working now.”

She kissed his cheek before walking to the window and peeling back the heavy curtains. It was difficult to see much of anything in the darkness, but the knowledge of dinosaurs ambling about in the distant jungle was enough to bring back flutters of excitement in her stomach. 

When she sat in the lodge next to a morphine addled Malcolm all those years ago it was difficult to imagine this reality. Now she sat on the bed, her view out the window obscured not by metal safety bars but by extravagant curtains characteristic of the opulence Hammond sought. 

“Did they do it?” She asked, jumping a little when she realized that Alan had quietly climbed onto the bed behind her. 

“Ian would say no.”

“Ian would contradict God and feel perfectly vindicated.”

Alan laughed, but made no motions to answer her question. He lifted his ever present hat from his head and balanced it atop the bedside lamp.

“That’s a fire hazard” Ellie muttered.

“Then I won’t turn that lamp on.”

She took one last look out of the window and slipped under the duvet cover. Alan’s T-shirt was warm under her cheek as she lay her head on his chest. She closed her eyes to drown out her professional analyses, barely she registered Alan’s thumb idly stroking her arm and tried to focus on that. 

“It certainly looks pretty.” Alan broke the silence after a few minutes.

“Hmm?”

“Jurassic World, I think this is the best we’ll ever get.”

Ellie mumbled something again; assent or dissent, Alan couldn’t tell. 

“It doesn’t matter, go to bed.” He kissed the top of her head lightly, “We can talk in the morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that aren't quite as familiar with the books, the Malcolm effect is essentially the idea that failures will "speed up" and pile up rapidly until the system collapses.


	6. Lara's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of snapshots from Lara's past with Ian. There's a bit of sexual content again so beware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might get updated and added to from time to time because I'm still not totally happy with some parts.

In the wide expanses of their Earth, Lara never could have dreamed that she would find herself on one tiny Central American country at the same time as Ian.

Only a few short months out of graduate school she had landed herself an aid position with a human rights organization based in Central America. In all honesty she had little focus on central and south America during her studies, but her ability to speak Spanish and the starting salary of that job led her to welcome the move with open arms. In the beginning she expected to be doing menial work, mostly delivering clean water and food to the more impoverished areas or lending medical aid wherever she could. 

And so she did, travelling from Belize to Paraguay and everywhere in between. It was fulfilling work and she loved doing it, but it wasn’t what she imagined when she began studying human rights law. When she stepped foot on campus at eighteen, she already had a romanticized view of her life as an adult. She dreamed of seeing the world, but only their warzones. Daily she followed the news through an array of different medias, putting herself in the conflict of the day to imagine what it would be like among the civilians. She would be a symbol of hope for those cowering from the violence as she helped them to safety. Maybe, as she slumped down in the dirt, weary from her work, a soldier may kneel down beside her and offer respite from the hot sun. Maybe they would fall in love and maybe they would leave the war torn country together. 

Her reality, however, was less fantastical. Often there was no clear enemy, no freedom fighter to battle the corrupt regime side by side with her. More often than not, Lara and her team were up against natural disasters with no way to combat them. Instead they had no other option but to come in and pick up the pieces afterwards. It was a very helpless feeling. Though they often knew about tsunamis and hurricanes and could evacuate the area, sometimes an earthquake would tear through the countryside and she could do little but watch and wait until it was safe to spring into action. 

She found herself in Costa Rica after one such disaster. 

A 7.1 on the richter scale, the earthquake tore up large portions of the capital, San Jose. By the time Lara reached the city, aftershocks still shook the area. The city was in chaos, buildings crumbled and fell like children’s blocks. Much of the city’s infrastructure was in shambles, making the water systems spotty at best and electricity almost nonexistent outside of the capital. However, Lara could attend to none of that before she dealt with the overcrowding in the city’s hospitals. 

With the electricity out across the country, many of the injured came to the capital or to neighboring countries if they could afford to. Therefore, despite her limited knowledge of medicine, Lara found herself working in the Costa Rican National Hospital when Dr. Ian Malcolm was airlifted in from Isla Nublar. 

She wasn’t present for the helicopter that brought him in, she was too busy tending to those with minor injuries so that they could be released to free up room. When the nurse approached her, Lara was kneeling in front of a young woman in the waiting room, setting a presumably fractured ankle as carefully as she could under the circumstances.

“Lara? Hablas inglés, Si?” The nurse asked in a hurry.

Lara nodded, tying up the ankle wrappings before following the nurse to a private room.

“Why is there only one bed being used here? We should be using this for more ICU beds.” Lara demanded, casting a look at the resident nurse.

“I think that’s my fault.” A weak voice said from the only occupied bed. 

She assumed him to be unconscious when she walked into the room, but as she hurried to his bedside his gaze focused so clearly on her as if everything was happening according to plan. Quickly her eyes swept across his bare chest, which was covered in newly forming bruises and deep puncture wounds, and settled on his maimed leg. 

Immediately his leg became her top concern as it looked like it had been allowed to fester untreated for days, clearly it had been inflicted well before the first signs of the quake.

“What happened?” She asked, digging around in the drawers before finding the bottle of antiseptic. 

“-wouldn’t believe me.” He mumbled.

First glance made her think animal attack, but there were inconsistencies in the lacerations that made her second guess herself. She pressed him no further as she finished cutting his pant leg open - a job it seemed someone else attempted before her. The leg itself looked as if someone already tried to set the bone again, but it was broken in too many places for a bang-up job to hold. 

Lara called in one of the attending doctors and explained the nature of the man’s injuries in rapid Spanish. As the doctor began to work, Lara lingered to work as a translator for anything he may need and to address the puncture wounds in the man’s torso.

“What’s your name?” The man asked as she leaned over his chest to clean the wounds.

“Lara Kaileb”

She continued to dab at different marks, feeling his chest rise and fall laboriously as he tried to gain the breath to reply to her. 

“Dr. Ian Malcolm. Wish we met under better circumstances.” He choked on the second half of the sentence, but continued anyway as if it were a matter of personal dignity. 

“Save your strength, doctor. There’s no need to push yourself to speak”

“I’m not the quiet type.” He replied after a moment.

Lara found herself smiling at his words as she prepared the bandages. As she finished dressing the smaller wounds she informed him that these deeper ones would need stitches. He spoke quietly to her nearly the entire time she ran the needle through his skin. While she worked he refused to wince or let on that he was in pain at all, save for the pauses where he regained his breath. 

The doctor was still working on Ian’s leg injury when Lara finished. She took a damp towel to his skin, wiping the sweat from his neck and delicately dabbing his forehead.

“Will you tell me what did that?” She asked again, inclining her head towards where the doctor was kneeling.

“Maybe someday.”

She smiled, having anticipated that response, “I might have to withhold the morphine until you tell me.”

Ian laughed, undeterred when his laughter gave way to a coughing fit. He gave Lara pause for a moment as she smoothed his sweat dampened hair back before catching herself. Even while in pain, she found him to be a very charismatic man. His calm was infectious, even when he had no right to be so at ease. Lara realized she had hundreds of other people to deal with and could not justify spending anymore time with him.

“You’ll be fine, Doctor Malcolm.” Lara said as she left the room.

Over the course of the week electricity was restored to the outer parts of the city and began to spread across the country, opening up hospitals around the area and easing the load on the Costa Rican National Hospital. Members of various aid groups began to work at clearing the rubble and rebuilding, but Lara remained on staff in the hospital. 

As Ian stabilized and left the intensive care unit, Lara became his nurse of choice. He still maintained a private room, leading Lara to assume that he or whoever was footing the bill must have been paying off the hospital and had some incentive to keep the staff around Ian as limited and secretive as possible. 

A few days after their initial meeting, Ian was beginning to feel fully conscious once again and called for Lara. He had just come out of another surgery for the complications in his leg and should have been resting, but he wasn’t one to listen to the doctors. 

“All they want me to do is sleep.” Ian complained as Lara set up his lunch on the folding table before taking the seat beside his bed.

“I think the doctors find you more palatable when you’re asleep.” She smirked. 

“I think a lot of people would agree with them.”

“Are you in any pain?”

“If I say yes, you’ll just give me more drugs and I won’t be able to think straight for a week.”

“You don’t need to think, just recover.” She smirked, anticipating some quip in response.

“If someone would get me a laptop like I asked or, uh, at least a goddamn pen and paper.”

“What, time for your manifesto?”

“Maybe I need to update my will.”

She laughed, but opened up her purse to tear a few pages from her day planner for him, “It’s not much so write small.”

Just outside of the room she found a pen on top of a forgotten clipboard and swiped it to return to Ian. 

“I’ll see if I can find anything better.” Lara promised, gathering her things to leave. 

“You’re a saint, Lara.” He called after her as she walked out of the door. 

 

//

“It was an animal attack while I was hiking.” Ian told her one day.

“Your leg?”

“Yeah. I didn’t get a good look at whatever it was, I got lost after climbing up a cliff and found myself being pulled deeper into the jungle before my partner scared it off.”

Lara was instantly suspicious of his story considering the biggest animals they had in Costa Rica were jaguars and you’d be lucky to stumble across one of them. Nevermind the fact that she vividly remembered cutting black suit pants open when he first came in.

“You may want to come up with something better before the government questions you.”

He hadn’t expected her to buy the story, after sitting with her for so many days he knew she was cleverer than that. He also knew it was a pretty weak story. 

“How long do you think I have till they come?”

“They were asking around a few days ago, but I said you needed more rest before you could answer.”

“So maybe three or four days?”

She nodded noncommittally and shrugged her shoulders, “If they come before you’re ready just pause mid sentence like you’re having trouble breathing. If you gasp a bit it usually scares them off.”

//

When he was finally released from the hospital a month later Ian was given strict orders to avoid flying and the government put him up in a nice hotel near the center of the city in case they wanted to question him again. Lara had accompanied him to the parking lot, ostensibly making sure that he could navigate on his crutches well enough. The crutches clicked against the concrete, filling the air with the hollow tapping when their words didn’t. A cab was waiting at the end of the drive and Lara was quickly realizing that she would be saying her goodbyes shortly.

“Come get lunch with me.” Ian said suddenly as they came to a pause in front of the taxi.

Lara was caught off guard, “I have to finish my shift.” She replied, regretting that it sounded like she was blowing him off.

“Dinner then.”

“Dinner then.” She smiled, “Seven at La Criollita?”

“If you say so.”

He leaned awkwardly on the crutches to kiss her cheek before saying goodbye and maneuvering clumsily into the cab. 

Inside another nurse was waiting for Lara to return; she stood just behind the lobby doors and watched the younger woman struggle to suppress a grin as she walked back from the garage.

“Is that American doctor finally gone?” She asked, falling into step with Lara when she walked by.

“Yes, he just got released.” The nurse gave her an odd look that Lara couldn’t quite place, “What is it?”

“I came into his room one day when you were off and the first thing he says to me is “where’s Lara?” I was like: she has a job you know, she doesn’t just sit here with you.”

“Did you actually say that?”

“Of course not.” She waved away the absurd question, “He has money, you can’t be sarcastic to rich people. I just told him you were busy.”

“He was nice.”

The nurse just gave her a light slap to the arm before they parted ways.

//

Lara often spent more time in Ian’s hotel room than her own apartment after his hospital release. His suite was much more comfortable and she would be a fool to turn down those luxuries, but also she stayed to make sure he was recovering well. Or so she had convinced herself; She rarely acknowledged that she spent so many nights there because she enjoyed his company. And she never acknowledged that it was because they had been having sex. 

Occasionally she wouldn’t hear from Ian for days on end until one night Lara would answer a knock on her door to find Ian, balancing unsteadily on his crutches, holding a bouquet of flowers out to her. Other times they were inseparable; when Lara had a stretch of vacation time they would scarcely leave each other until she was forced back to work. Neither scenario bothered Lara, in truth it worked out well for them. Each of them went about their lives and sometimes it made more sense to go about them together. 

It was for this reason that it seemed odd that they never discussed their situation. Pillow talk never consisted of declarations of love, it never crossed Lara’s mind to tell Ian she loved him. In fact, the words never even occurred to her. Nothing between them would have changed if they said it, so they both decided not to. 

Months passed until one day Lara gave up her apartment and moved in full time with Ian. Neither of them said much of the change as it was simply a logical one. Ian wanted her closer so they wouldn’t have to make plans over the phone or wait at restaurants for the other. It made sense. 

There were never any discussions about life after Costa Rica. It was obvious that their stay in this hotel would eventually end once Ian was cleared to leave the country and Lara was only here as long as her organization was needed. Either it didn’t worry them or they didn’t want to think about that inevitability. Both were very straightforward people, they liked to deal with the present and take the future as it came. Even Ian, who made most of his money by using models to predict business endgames, refused to look at his own endgame. 

//

The balcony door was open that night, letting a warm breeze blow through the bedroom. The sheets were loosely wrapped around their bodies in the heat as Ian and Lara lazily postponed getting up again, instead they rode out the blissful post-coitus calm. Lara laid her head on Ian’s chest, tracing a finger along the scars across his stomach. 

“Have you ever heard of Isla Nublar?” Ian whispered, stroking her hair idly.

“No, why?” She mumbled.

“That’s where I was attacked.”

She perked up at his words, sensing that she might finally get an answer to her mystery. Her finger paused atop the most prominent scars as she gave him her full attention.

“How familiar are you with genetic engineering?” He continued. 

“Not very.” Lara sat up so that she could face him, “Where are you going with this?”

“Lay down again.” 

She obliged, sensing that he wouldn’t elaborate if she didn’t. He resumed playing with her hair as if it calmed him as he embarked on his story. She tried not to say anything as he explained InGen’s ventures, even when he told her that they had been engineering dinosaurs for a theme park no less. Ian began to pause more frequently as he drew closer in his story to the attack. If he didn’t relate the incident the the government then, Lara realized, it might have been the first time he told anyone. 

“I believe you.” She said quietly once he had finished.

She knew from the moment she saw the wound that there was an odd story behind it, but she hadn’t been expecting anything like that. The way he explained everything made it seem plausible; though she wasn’t sure that she would have believed anyone else, but Ian was clearly still pained by the memory. 

They laid there for another moment until Lara finally moved to get up. She kissed him gently as she extracted herself from his arms.

“I have to leave for work soon.”

“I hate when you work nights.” Ian groaned, rolling over in a tangle of white sheets.

“I’ll be quiet when I come back.”

“Not what I meant.” He said, but she had already left the room.

He heard the cabinets open and close in the other room as she presumably packed her bag. She called out a goodbye a few minutes later and Ian heard the front door click shut. 

//

One evening Lara came back to the suite, tossing her rucksack onto the carpet beside the door before stalking off to the shower. At the sound of the door Ian had been alert, but once the water turned on he followed her curiously into the bathroom. 

By the time he reached her Lara had already gotten into the shower, dirty clothes lying in a heap on the tile. Quietly he sat down on the bathroom countertop, watching the dark outline of her body.

“I’m leaving in two weeks.” She said, minutes later.

“To where?” 

She didn’t answer, instead she stayed silent as she finished her routine, at last rinsing the conditioner from her long hair before the water shut off.

“Could you hand me a towel, Ian?”

He obliged, watching shamelessly as she bent slightly to towel dry her hair before moving on to the rest of her body. Once dry, she didn’t bother with wrapping the towel around herself. Instead she walked naked into the bedroom where she began to pull open drawers to look for her clothes. 

Ian followed her into the other room and leaned against the doorframe to watch her. The sight of her walking around the bedroom so casually made him feel like he was intruding on a private moment, as if she would turn around at any moment and be shocked the find him there. 

There was no denying that he was becoming more and more aroused as she bent over the drawer, giving him an unrestricted view of her backside for a split second. It took great effort on his part not to undo his own belt and stop her from dressing, but it was clear that she was upset about something and his desire to find out what she meant by ‘leaving’ outweighed his desire to get off. 

He left his spot by the door to sit down on the bed and encouraged her to join him once she pulled on a T-shirt. 

“Where are you going?” He tried asking again as she settled onto the bed beside him.

“Zurich.”

He hadn’t anticipated her leaving for anywhere that far away, he could hardly come up with a follow-up question but thankfully she elaborated.

“I was offered a position with Amnesty, but I’d have to relocate to Zurich before i get an assignment.”

“You have to take it then. That’s quite the, uh, opportunity.”

She smiled weakly, “I’ve already accepted it.”

“Right.”

For a split second he let disappointment show, but he knew this was going to happen eventually. It didn’t cross his mind to ask her to stay or to come with him back to Texas.

//

They sat on the balcony of the suite taking coffee together for the last time before her flight. Both tried their hardest to play it off as any other day, dropping jokes and making light conversation, but the move weighed heavily on them both.

“Lara?” Ian sat forward in his seat, producing a piece of paper from his pocket, “Take this.”

She took the page from him and on it were three separate phone number, none of them labeled. She looked up at him quizzically.

“Business and pleasure.” He smirked, “The first one is my home phone in Austin, assuming they ever let me leave this country. You know what to do with that. The second is my office in case you need me in that respect.”

“The third?”

“Call it if you get into trouble.” Lara wanted to make a joke, but Ian was suddenly serious, “Someone from InGen or even BioSyn might try to contact you, I don’t know. Even if they don’t, your line of work isn’t the safest either. Call it if you run into problems.”

“Yeah, of course.” Her smile came off as slightly forced as she took in all the information.

She pocketed the slip of paper, tucking it in with her boarding pass before she stood to leave. Ian followed her to the door, setting her carry-on bag on the floor to pull her into a hug.

“I could go with you to the airport.” He offered again.

Lara shook her head, “That’s alright, it’s easier to say goodbye here.” 

He leaned on his cane to kiss her, running his fingers one last time through her hair before they separated. 

There was a feeling of ‘I guess this is it’ and Lara opened the front door.

“Bye, Ian.” She nodded solemnly.

“Goodbye.”

//

Dust flew overhead and the concrete crumbled to the ground around them. The orange sunset was tinged with reds and browns as the bombs fell and the gas dispersed, leaving behind only the stifling air and revealing the wreckage. A small group of refugees huddled closely together against the failing structure of what had once been their home and they held their breath. Each still hoping that after all these days and after all the hours they had been forced to sit there while their town collapsed around them that soon enough the skies would clear and let them make their escape. 

Among them was only one foreigner. Lara sat with the family, holding a small boy on her lap as she tried to cover his head from falling debris. Her radio buzzed in her pocket, but she didn’t dare pick it up with the soldiers still prowling the area. 

She imagined it must have been at least an hour since she had ran in to look for survivors of the latest attack. Her organization had assumed the dust had settled and the government militants had cleared off, but no sooner had Lara set foot over the mangled threshold did the gas attacks resume. Now she was pinned down, trying to convince the family she sought shelter with that she would lead them to safety still. 

They sat in silence until Lara heard a call nearby. Carefully she set down the boy and popped her head over the blown out walls like a meerkat in the savannah. A group of six had begun to file out of a building a few hundred meters away, led by a member of Amnesty who Lara recognized as Benji. He waved his arm over his head at the sight of her, gesturing for her to follow with whoever else made it. 

Urgently she bent down to relay the message. She pushed them quickly out the door, taking the young boy in her arms once more as they broke into a run across the dirt. The boy buried his face in her hair as they ran past broken bodies. Benji waited up for them, waving them in the direction of their camp before he ran beside Lara.

“Let me take him.” Benji yelled.

“I’ve got him, just go!” 

The boy crashed down on her hip with each stride, slowing her immeasurably. Her body ached from being curled up on the ground for so long, but she couldn’t afford to pay attention to that now. She didn’t dare slow her pace even though she no longer heard gunfire. Up ahead the boy’s family ran through the streets; unsure of their destination, they only sought to get as far away as possible. Leaving her side, Benji sprinted to the front to lead the group for the remaining few miles to their base of operations.

Hours later Lara finally collapsed in the safety of her tent. She stripped off her dust stained clothes and threw on a T-shirt that was only slightly less dirty, cursing the scarceness of water in their current camp. There was still paperwork to be filed to officially register the little boy and his family as refugees, but Lara couldn’t bring herself to stand again once she dropped down on her mattress. 

She was in danger of slipping into a midafternoon nap when the front of her tent started to unzip. Benji walked in and slipped his boots off, popping out of the tent quickly to shake the sand from them before lining the shoes up beside her own. 

“How are you feeling? I thought I would see you at the registration camp.” He stood by the bed, waiting for her to lift her head and acknowledge him.

When she didn’t say anything he sat down on the edge of the mattress and put a hand on her leg.

“You’re going to get the bed dirty.” She groaned, her eyes flickering upwards to take him in before she pressed the heels of her palms to her forehead to fend off the looming migraine. 

Benji only laughed in response. He got up, pulling off his own shirt to swap it out for one from his alma mater that was riddled with holes after all these years. He fished out a plastic bag from his shorts before changing those too and brought its contents over to Lara.

“I swung by the clinic for some pain killers. I know you haven’t been faring too well in this town.”

Lara sat up slowly, taking two of the pills and stashing the rest for later. Benji climbed into bed beside her and she let herself be pulled onto his lap. 

“I don’t know if I can do another three months.” She admitted, resting her head against his chest.

“You’ve made it almost a year; another three months is nothing and then we can get out of this country.”

“I’ve already been tapped for Memorial.”

“In Russia?”

“No more running around in the desert.” She smiled serenely to herself. 

“So you’ll leave Amnesty just like that?” Lara could hear him getting angry, but she made no moves to get off his lap.

“I’ve seen too much war, Benji. I can’t watch people die everyday for the rest of my life.”

She knew that he loved this job. That after three months he would fly back to Zurich with her and ask to be assigned back in the Middle East for his fourth time. She knew that he had assumed she would too. Lara barely listened to his arguments that they were saving people and that watching a few die meant that hundreds more would live, but her patience had run out for that rationalization. In truth she had felt the same way the first time she had set out on this assignment, but after nearly two years she saw her own life blowing away with the sand. 

“But I love you. I can’t follow you if you go to Memorial.” He finished, throwing her for a loop.

“I can’t stay here.” She shook her head after she got over the initial shock of his words, “And I won’t. You’re so good at this job, I know that, but I’m not.”

“You are! I just watched you run four miles carrying a kid! The both of us here, together, have saved so many lives. How can you say that this job isn’t for you?”

“I just don’t have the heart anymore, Benji.”

He buried his face in his hands, distancing himself from her as best as he could on the small bed. 

“It’s time for a desk job.” She said finally.

 

//

 

Six years after leaving Costa Rica Lara met Ian again in another chance encounter. 

After playing out old fantasies of running around in war zones, taking a job in Moscow was a massive move up for her; going from straight fieldwork to the occasional jaunt off to Grozny was a lifestyle change that she had no problem adapting to after her time with Amnesty. She held a little corner office only a few blocks from Gorky park that was decorated with the usual little potted plants and artwork bought from corner markets. Large windows occupied two of the walls and gave Lara a breathtaking view of the beautiful city around her. With her move she even gained a secretary; a young Russian woman named Maria sat at a desk in front of Lara’s office, answering calls and screening mail for her. 

Since leaving Ian, Lara got in the habit of monitoring InGen’s business moves. She wasn’t sure why she did it, other than Ian’s word there were no indications that InGen was dabbling in dinosaur genetics. However, she had seen Ian’s wound and trusted his word completely which made Lara nervous whenever she saw that InGen had gained a new investor or when their stock went up in value. 

“Masha?” Lara called as she went through the stack of mail.

“Hmm?” The girl walked into her office with a barely concealed smile as if she already knew what her boss was going to ask.

“Where did this flyer come from?” 

“I thought you might be interested. I’ve heard you mention that man before.”

Lara looked down at the deep purple lettering; a convention of the world’s top Chaoticians in itself was enough to get her attention, as she read further she realized why her secretary seemed excited.

“Ian Malcolm!” Maria pointed out before Lara even had a chance to say anything. 

“Ian Malcolm.” Lara repeated, “When is this?”

“Tomorrow night.”

Lara flipped the flyer over in her hand, “Can you clear my schedule?”

When the night came, Lara felt strangely apprehensive. She visited him a few times in Texas and ran into him again in London, but now they were approaching a year with no contact. If she saw him, she was afraid that she would admit she missed him. 

In the end the temptation was too strong. She pinned her ID badge onto her jacket when she entered the convention center and pulled the crumpled up flyer from her purse. It seemed that there were several lectures going on at the same time, but she had a hard time finding out where Ian would be.

She ended up sitting in on a number of lectures throughout the night. Afterwards she would get dragged into polite conversation with other people attending, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask outright if any knew where Ian might be. During one such conversation Lara was trying to hold her own in a discussion with a grad student when she heard someone call her name. 

Ian strode over to her, wolfish grin etched across his face, looking just the same as he always had. He still dressed almost exclusively in blacks and greys, but it looked like he had ditched the leather jacket for a blazer. He still walked with a cane.

He wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her into a hug before stepping away slightly to get a good look at her.

“It’s good to see you.” He said, “You didn’t fly all the way to Russia to see me, did you?”

“I’ve been working in Moscow for a bit, I couldn’t resist the chance to meet up.”

“I’m glad you came, most of my colleagues here aren’t, uh, very lively.”

“I thought chaoticians were meant to be the entertaining mathematicians.”

“Not lately.”

Lara wondered what he meant, but didn’t push for details. Instead Ian led her by the arm towards the open bar and ordered drinks for them both. They found a quieter area to sit and ignored the lectures going on in favor of catching up. 

“So you work in Moscow now? Does that mean you can read Russian, because all these papers are in cyrillic.”

“A little.”

She laughed as he dug in his pocket for something before passing a little slip of paper to her.

“This is a hotel reservation.” She told him, “To the Radisson Slavyanskaya.”

“Room 347. I hear there’s a nice restaurant down the block.”

“For dinner or breakfast?”

“Both if we leave now.”

“Shouldn’t you be attending these lectures?”

Ian dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand, “I gave mine earlier.”

//

Sleeping with him again after so long was like an entirely new experience. In Costa Rica she had been careful and held back because of his injury. In Texas he had been tender and attentive to make up for when he couldn’t be. But now, in Moscow, there was something unrestrained about both of them. There was an unmistakable feeling that this might be their last time together. 

They exited the convention hall into fresh snow on the streets. Lara’s heels made tiny tracks across the covered cobblestone as they hurried through the cold air. Ian’s hotel was only a few streets away so they opted to walk rather than hail a cab. 

Lara clung to his arm as they walked, giggling like she had just left a frat party with the quarterback. Hair slightly wet from the melting snow, Ian fumbled in his pocket for the keycard. He threw open the door, tossing his cane and keycard onto a nearby table before pulling Lara towards the bed. 

His hand snaked through her hair, grabbing a handful in his fist as he pulled her in for a kiss. She pressed hard against him, wasting no time working at his belt. Lara was almost shaking, but somehow she managed to pull his belt off and unbutton his pants. 

Ian broke away, moving his hand from her hair to the zipper of her dress in one swift motion. The fabric slipped from her body easily and fell in a pile. His hands paused as he watched her unclasp her bra, letting that too fall to the floor before stepping out of her panties.

It had been a long time since he saw her naked before him and he found himself staring before his wits returned and he hastily set about shedding his suit jacket. He cast his clothes aside, reaching to tilt Lara’s chin up for a gentler kiss.

“Don’t hold back.” Lara whispered as she pulled back from the kiss.

He offered no reply, but began to kiss her neck. His teeth scraped against her soft skin and she moaned appreciatively. She felt his hands tense around her waist and he came up to kiss her lips before pushing her back on the bed. 

“Turn over.” 

She obliged wordlessly, getting on her hands and knees on the pristine bedding. The dark wooden headboard was all Lara could see as she anticipated Ian’s touch. She flinched in surprise as she felt a hand on her waist. His gripped her tightly with one hand while the other slipped between her thighs. Teasingly he ghosted across her clit, barely providing any friction at all. She groaned and tried to move her hips against his hand, but he held her firmly.

“Not until I let you.” Ian’s voice came from just above her shoulder and she felt his hard cock pressed against her ass. 

He teased her for a moment more before withdrawing his hand. She felt him lining himself up, digging his nails into her skin as he looked for leverage before plunging his cock into her in one fluid motion.

Lara gasped and he gripped her tighter, ramming into her with a forceful rhythm. The headboard hit against the wall with resounding thumps as Ian fucked her. Her breasts bounced as she was rocked back and forth in time with his thrusts. 

“Ian.” She moaned and his hand snaked up her spine to grab a fistfull of hair. 

He rode her hard, tugging her hair back with each movement. Lara heard him curse under his breath and realized he was close to coming, but she got there first. Her shaky arms could barely hold her up anymore as she came, shouting Ian’s name. She felt him come moments later and he pulled out and let her collapse onto the bed. 

“We never ended up getting dinner.” She managed to say after catching her breath.

“Tomorrow night then.”

But tomorrow came and went. 

//

In Sacramento Lara lost her corner office but gained staffers. When she left Memorial to take up a government position in California she adopted a large group of public relations experts, another secretary, and a team of first responders among others. It took time for her to settle into her new role and even longer for her to get used to being back in America.

When she applied for the position many months ago back in Moscow, Lara had longed to return to the States. It was a feeling akin to homesickness that began to gnaw at her as she realized the country of her birth had been little more than a vacation destination during her professional career. Foreign countries began to feel more like home. 

She had been overjoyed standing at the ticket counter as she bought her seat on the plane to return. After years of bouncing from country to country and having to adapt to a totally new set of customs she thought it would be a weight off her shoulders to finally settle down in America.

She was wrong.

For the first few weeks she waited, expecting things to click into place and give her that sense of belonging that she was looking for. She had an apartment lined up for when she arrived, but as she walked across the threshold it suddenly felt smaller than she recalled. The longer she spent in her flat, the crazier she went. Every piece of furniture began to feel wrong for inexplicable reasons. 

Her potted plants were left behind in Moscow; they were unsuited for the climate and Lara was beginning to feel like she was too. Slowly she adjusted to her work, even if she still felt out of place at home. She adored her staff and they worked with a passion that reminded her of herself. It was very steady work without much legwork for her. Ultimately Lara’s job boiled down to “professional organizer” and as that reality began to dawn on her she became even more restless. Sending people out to do fieldwork was safer than her previous jobs, but it lacked heart. Risking her life was something she secretly loved about working with Amnesty and Memorial. Here in California the most dangerous tasks she was responsible for was handling the media after a forest fire. 

 

//

It had been a long time since she thought of Ian Malcolm.

After meeting him again in Moscow she realized she couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t in love with him. They spent the weekend together before he had to leave once again and as every second slipped by Lara had to fight with herself to let him go. As she walked across Red Square with him the morning of his flight, she thought that maybe if she finally said “I love you” he wouldn’t leave her. But she never tested her theory. 

She sat in her office watching the clock as the time of his departure flight rolled around. Tears fell quickly and quietly for the first time in ages once that time came and went. She felt like she missed out on another life. If she had stopped him from leaving, or if she had run away with him like in a film, maybe then things would have been different. In her thirties it was dawning on her that her time to settle down with a man and have children - to make a home, was rapidly passing her by and she couldn’t find it in her to care. 

It was that night after she wiped away the tears and ripped the clock from the wall that she decided to put Ian behind her. 

And by some cruel twist of fate he knocked on the door of her office two years later in Sacramento. 

“I’m sorry, Ms. Kalieb. But I, uh, didn’t make an appointment.” He said as easily as if no time had passed.

Lara could only stare at him with wide eyes as if the ghost of a long dead ancestor had appeared to prophesize World War Three. Once the shock wore off an icy feeling descended on her chest and her eyes narrowed at him.

“What are you doing here.” 

“I saw you on the news, didn’t realize you had come to California.”

“I didn’t know you were here either.”

“Not Sacramento, but I’ve been giving lectures at Berkeley.” He was quickly realizing that she wasn’t as excited to see him as he expected, “Do you have time to get lunch?”

Lara buried her face in her hands momentarily, trying to regain an ounce of professionalism to deny him.

“No.”

“Dinner?”

“Ian.”

He dropped into the seat across from her, “What is it?”

“I had finally accepted that I would never see you again and now here you are.”

“Well isn’t that good, then? Ta-da, here I am again.” 

She wavered for a moment over whether or not she ought to call her secretary to kick him out, but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

“And then one of us will leave again and I just can’t keep doing that, Ian.” She sighed. 

“Are you planning on leaving anytime soon?”

“Well, no.”

“Neither am I.”

“What are you saying, Ian?”

“That it doesn’t have to end that way again.”

She was quiet for a moment, weighing her options, but she couldn’t be expected to make a decision like that so quickly.

“This is unprofessional.” She said finally, “I can’t have this conversation with you right now.”

“Fair enough. When do you usually leave?”

“Ian. Come on, give me some time.”

“Alright,” He grinned again, “I’ll make a dinner reservation for tomorrow night, then.”

“Ian…”

“I’m making it. I won’t be mad if you don’t show up, but I’d love it if you did. I’ll send the details to your secretary.”

With that he swept out of the office, leaving Lara confused and feeling emotionally drained. She stood up after a moment only to shut her door before she collapsed behind her desk once more. 

 

//

When eight o’clock rolled around the following day Lara was forced to finally make a decision. For hours before she had been debating whether or not she should meet him and after much thought she realized that she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she passed up a chance at closure. 

Ian was at the restaurant when she arrived, two glasses of wine already poured and sitting on the table. 

“I’m glad you came.” Ian said as she sat.

“I owed that much to you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Lara.”

She sipped at the wine, hoping that Ian would continue talking so that she wouldn’t have to say anything. 

“I did miss you.” She said once it became clear that he was waiting for her.

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what would have happened if I stayed in Moscow.” He confessed, “Or if we didn’t have to leave Costa Rica.”

She laughed humorlessly, “Neither of those scenarios could have ever happened. We just have to deal with what actually did happen.”

“And so we are.”

“Ian, I would give anything if things could just click into place between us again. But it’s not that easy for me.”

She was struggling to keep calm and willed herself to dissociate and pretend like seeing him again didn’t hurt her. 

“I’m not saying that we can just carry on like all these years haven’t passed, but I want to try again.” Ian said.

“We’re getting too old to keep trying.”

It was Ian’s turn to pick up the wine glass. He knew what would happen if he continued on and threw caution to the wind. 

“I still love you.” He said finally.

“I always loved you, Ian.” Lara said quietly. 

They both lapsed into silence with the confessions, staring down at their plates as they tried to come up with anything to say to that. 

Lara was the first to speak, “I heard about San Diego. Were you involved?”

He nodded slowly, though he navigated away from the topic “Tell me about what you’ve been doing.”

They talked throughout dinner, each carefully staying on safe topics and ignoring the looming questions. Only after they had finished dinner did Lara have the courage reexamine her feelings.

“Can we go for a walk?” She asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

They paid the bill and stepped out into the warm evening air. They wandered the city with no destination in mind, each simply wanting to continue their earlier conversation. 

“I want to see you again.” Lara said.

“We can, ah, take things slowly”

“Yeah, I can do that, I think.”

He walked her back to her apartment and conversation began to flow more easily again. It gave Lara hope that they might be able to salvage things despite all the obstacles. 

Over time they both began to heal. Each time they saw each other again they became more and more relaxed and the past began to mean less as the future looked promising. Eventually Lara felt carefree with him again, he made her laugh and more importantly he made California feel more like a home for her.

It took time for her to feel comfortable moving in with him again, but with time she was able to do that as well. Romantically they fell back into things faster that Lara could have imagined. She thought that she might have apprehensions even after she felt comfortable being with him again, but she couldn’t deny that she craved his touch.

Each day they strengthened their relationship until one day they realized that they were both just as happy as they had been together in Costa Rica. After that, things between them only got better. 

Lara realized one thing clearly: she loved him more than anything and nothing would convince her to leave his side.


	7. Modern Innovation

That morning Claire arrived in the bio lab with Owen, Alan, Ian, Ellie, and Lara following close behind. They were teased with pieces of research, presented in laymen's terms, but all of them were eagerly awaiting a full picture of what Claire touted. She had prepared herself for any array from responses from the group because she knew that none of them would accept their research easily. Having known Owen closely, and occasionally intimately against her better judgement, Claire was most nervous about his reaction. It was obvious that he would be scandalized by their aims; he never saw the full picture like she did, he was rather old fashioned in his ways. 

The glass doors slid open and they stepped into the stark white lab. Their marketing team had calculated which design would be most appealing for tours and while Claire thought their rouse should have been easy to spot, none of the focus groups could tell that half of their “scientists” were only pipetting different colored liquids from one test tube to another. The real lab was actually two stories underground and almost eighty thousand square feet with a team the size of a small town constantly working on research projects. It was like having an intellectual factory even if most of their work never saw the light of day.

“I believe you’re familiar with Dr. Henry Wu?” Claire introduced the only real scientist in the lab.

“Did Hammond make you, ah, sign a lifetime contract when he hired you?” Ian asked.

“Passion for the job.” Wu answered with a tight lipped smile, moving forward quickly before Ian had a chance to say anything else, “Claire was very excited to show you our newest breakthrough. It took years to develop this technology, but we believe that we’ve created the perfect plan B.”

Claire bent over the table of vials, dragging her finger lightly across the tops of them until she found the one she wanted. She picked up the little container and presented it to them, its bluish liquid swirled with the movement.

“We call it Ragnarok, but the connotation is more sinister than the virus itself.” Wu forced a laugh, “It was designed as a way to neutralize the assets should they contract some kind of natural disease and the population is deemed defective or if a genetic abnormality arises in a species that presents problems. The beauty of Ragnarok is that we can remotely cull an entire population without putting our men in danger and without the unpredictability of normal weaponry.”

“This technology is both a failsafe and do-over button.” Claire said, “While we have the utmost confidence in the safety measures in place now, some people find back up plans reassuring. Besides safety, as Dr. Wu mentioned, this virus serves as a quicker and more cost effective way to deal with naturally arising issues within species that are inevitable with the DNA splicing that goes into making these creatures.

She gestured once more to the vial in her hand.

“This particular strain of virus has been designed specifically to affect the Microceratus, the smallest dinosaur we have here at Jurassic World. It will only grow to a little under three feet tall and…” She started to explain before pausing, “Well, you’re probably familiar with the species.”

She inclined her head to Dr. Wu and he took over the more technical side of the explanation for her.

“Now, the interesting thing about this virus is that we haven’t simply re-engineered a prehistoric virus that might have occurred in the wild and targeted this species. What we’ve done here is specifically insert certains strands of codons into the DNA of the animal during breeding that correspond with the virus. Essentially we make the dinosaurs like a key to a lock. Only one species has the correct genetic code to unlock the virus.”

Dr. Wu pushed a button on the wall and the panel slid open, revealing a barely matured microceratus sitting in solitude behind the glass. The dinosaur sat awkwardly on its stumpy tail, its cylindrical snout pointed up in the air as it tried to smell the unusual visitors through the narrow air holes. Owen felt his heart sink when he realized where this was going. From a cage behind his desk, Dr. Wu produced a small mouse and dropped it into the glass box with the microceratus.

“The dinosaur should experience no pain when the virus takes hold.” He explained, “It interacts with neurons in the brain to stop them from firing and sending signals to vital organs.”

“And that doesn’t hurt?” Owen asked skeptically.

“Watch for yourself. Notice the mouse’s behavior.”

Dr. Wu pressed a few keys on the keyboard and turned to the glass expectantly. There were no signs that anything had changed, leaving Owen to stare quizzically at the microceratus and wonder if the machine had malfunctioned in some way. The creature continued sniffing the air, unperturbed by the mouse’s invasion.

No one spoke, but as time dragged on it was evident that everyone was starting to question whether or not something would happen. Then suddenly the Microceratus fell. The little white mouse scurried around the body, squeaking incessantly and sniffing the rough, mottled skin. 

There were no immediate reactions from the group and Claire wondered who the first voice of dissent would be. She was betting on Malcolm.

Dr. Wu reached into the cage and took the mouse out again, “And as you can see, the mouse is untouched by the virus.”

“You can tell that from sight alone? Chernobyl proved that unseen dangers are often the nastiest.” Ian muttered, “How can you possibly know that there are no side effects?” 

“Clearly this isn’t our first test. Hundreds were conducted until we could definitively prove that our virus had absolutely no impact on the mouse’s lifespan. This isn’t a disaster we were unprepared for. We know how this virus works and what to expect.”

“Have you anticipated evolution of the virus?” Ian asked, “Is it possible that the virus could mutate to affect species differently?”

“Something like that would be very much impossible.” Wu smiled condescendingly, “The virus is only intended for one time use essentially. It has an incubation period of mere minutes inside the creature and outside of the dinosaur the virus dies within hours. Seeing as how the entire population of that specific species will have been eradicated there is no time for any kind of evolution that would give the species resistance, even if they could reproduce.”

“But the virus itself?”

“The virus itself? The only animals that have the correct DNA sequence to become infected are wiped out. The virus is harmless to every other species. Please, Dr. Malcolm, we’ve put months of research into ensuring that the virus will not be able to harm any other species. Mr. Hammond held science back in his desire to keep these animals as 'natural' as possible, but Masrani understands that there is nothing natural about them. Here we can make the necessary alterations that let this park run smoothly."

Ian went silent and gestured for Dr. Wu to continue, but as the man began to speak again Ian leaned over to whisper to Alan.

“There are a thousand scenarios in which this goes tits up, pick your favorite.”

Alan stifled a laugh. Ian was right that it seemed to leave a lot of room for error, but Alan also thought that the idea itself was incredibly ambitious - almost as ambitious as the park itself. 

“What’s the largest sample size you’ve used in testing?” Alan asked. 

“Actually a large scale test was just carried out.” Claire jumped in to field the question, “We chose to show you the single microceratus because currently their species have been exhibiting antisocial personality traits that were deemed undesirable when mixing with the other species in the cretaceous cruise attraction.”

“So you killed the entire species?” Owen sounded appalled.

“Well, yes. Dr. Wu fixed the problems with the gene sequencing and an improved population will be ready to be released in a few days. Would you like to see the results?”

 

//

Along with a few lab techs wielding syringes and cotton swabs, they rocketed down the dirt paths in a line of park jeeps. Ellie was tapping her foot impatiently against the rubber mats as they drove past the coursing river. She worried about what scene they might find unfolding among the microceratus herd.

They bumped over the uneven roads alongside the other dinosaurs in the paddock, but no one could be bothered to remark upon them with the microceratus still on their minds. The river dropped off suddenly, forming a still pond beneath. The jeeps were forced to take a slight hill before they could drive down to it.

As they came over the crest of the hill they could see the acres of field before them, untouched for miles by trees. And lying in stark contrast to the green grass were nearly thirty little grey bodies, unmoving by the pond.

“My god.” Lara muttered, horrified as they began the descent. 

From the distance Lara was struck by the familiarity of the scene. Years ago she had seen fields full of bodies massacred in a civil war, each one easily overlooked as just another body but differences in hair or clothing had reminded her of the unique lives that had been taken. Now she looked down at the bodies of dinosaurs that she had never even heard of until that morning and remembered that humans were capable of killing so much more than just each other. 

The cars pulled to a stop at the base of the pond and Owen was quick to jump out. He knelt down beside the nearest microceratus, followed closely by Alan and Ellie while Lara and Ian hung back. 

“Like someone just flipped a switch.” Ellie remarked softly as she ran a hand over the dinosaur’s body. 

No signs of stress were apparent on the bodies; it would have been easy to confuse death with sleep upon looking at the little creatures, but the creepy nature of the scene pointed towards darker circumstances. 

“It’s inhumane.” Owen said.

“It’s godlike.” Alan whispered, earning a confused glance from the other two.

Alan squatted back on his heels so he could see the other bodies fanning out across the clearing. It was like a scene out of the bible and God’s fury had smitten the beasts. It would have been awe inspiring if Alan wasn’t already seething under the surface. 

He had been curious when he heard what Wu aimed to accomplish, but seeing the aftermath reminded him of just how unnatural this whole situation was. Alan had always been mistrustful of corporations that tried to control nature, he had even consciously tried to keep his biases from clouding his opinion of the park, but seeing this level of destruction solidified his views. 

Ian was strangely unmoved by the sight in front of him; he was aware that Lara was fighting a barrage of emotion, but he found the whole scene oddly comical.

“Looks like they all drank the Kool-aid.”

“They didn’t have a choice.” Lara replied testily. 

“What are you thinking?” He encouraged.

She was silent, her eyes swept across the field as she willed herself to hurry up and become desensitized. Ian started to walk in between the bodies and she fell into step with him. Each animal looked like it had collapsed spontaneously as it went about its usual business. Some still with leaves in their mouths, Lara noted. 

“There’s something very human about slashing or shooting these creatures to death. You can see the wounds and it’s just easier to make sense of that.” She said after a moment, “Like this, though, it’s rather… eerie.”

“It feels supernatural, doesn’t it?”

She nodded, “Like magic.”

Both of them kept their distance from the bodies, walking past them like they were big scaley rocks. It occurred to Lara briefly that this area must look surreal from the air. Oddly she felt no sadness for the creatures like they weren’t even animals. Despite having seen other dinosaurs walking and breathing before her earlier, it still felt like they were assets to be owned rather than living creatures and that realization frightened her. 

Lara found it difficult to stand in the midst of the carnage for so long. Ian wanted to take everything in, compartmentalize it and file his reactions away so that he might bring his theories up later in an argument, but Lara was becoming increasingly unsettled by the whole situation. 

She left Ian milling around the field and went to find Owen. He was standing off by the riverbank, watching idly as Ellie and Alan continued to examine the carcass. 

“Does this type of thing happen often around here?” Lara asked as she came to stand beside him.

“We’d have PETA up our ass if it did.”

Lara laughed humorlessly, “They say extinct animals don’t have rights.”

“When Masrani offered me the job here, he called it a nature preserve. But now it seems the animals only have rights when it’s convenient for them.”

“To be honest, it’s not exactly the animals I’m worried about.”

“Yeah? What then.”

“We just saw the atomic bomb of biological weapons.” Lara turned her back to the park scientists working nearby, “Using this kind of tech on humans is still probably years away, but I don’t think Claire and the others understand what they’ve created.”

He looked over at the dozens of fallen dinosaurs, thinking about what she said. In the navy he was rarely subjected to the kind of fighting that would yield these mass casualties, but her words struck a chord with him.

“Look, Masrani is ostensibly using this as a safety measure but if word got out, there might be other parties interested in it.” Lara continued.

“You’re thinking about Biosyn.”

She shrugged, “They’re a likely candidate, but not the only one.”

Owen took one last look at the field of bodies before turning back to Lara, “Ready to go back?”

She nodded and followed him through the tall grass to where his jeep was parked. A few meters away she saw Ian going with Alan and Ellie to the other car, but figured she would catch up with him back at the hotel. 

Once they were on the road and away from potential eavesdroppers, Owen continued their conversation.

“Do you really think someone could reverse engineer the virus? Dr. Wu said it only worked because they were able to insert DNA when they bred the dinosaurs.”

“I haven’t any idea.” Lara admitted, “But it’s a dangerous path to go down.”

“Guns are destructive enough. Nobody needs an opportunity to make genocide easier.” He agreed.

“I’ve seen the aftermath of Sarin gas attacks, it’s a messy and excruciating way to go but at least it leave signs.” She said, “If something like what we just saw could be adapted for modern warfare we would have no way to trace it. From what I could tell there weren’t even any clues that the virus was present.” 

“It’s unethical for them to even use it on these dinosaurs, they shouldn’t have allowed research to get this far.”

“Which is why an information leak in inevitable if Claire lets Wu continue testing.”

“You ought to talk to Claire about your concerns; she might think you’re paranoid, but she’s usually rational if nothing else. If it matters, I think you’re right.”

Lara’s response was cut short by a ringing noise coming from somewhere by her feet.

“The SATphone is on the floor there.” Owen took a hand off the steering wheel to point, “Can you grab that for me?”


	8. Unlikely Coincidences

Lara felt around on the floor of the jeep, her fingers brushing up against a number of unidentified metallic things before they settled around the phone.

“Owen.” He answered once she passed it to him. 

Outside the window Lara watched the trees fly by, trying not to eavesdrop though it was difficult to avoid it in the close confines. She could only hear one side of the conversation which made piecing together the problem difficult, but Owen was becoming increasingly fidgety in his seat. 

“Do you mind if we make a detour?” He hung up the phone and tossed it onto the dashboard.

‘No, of course not. What happened?”

“That was Barry. He thinks something’s up with the raptors.”

“Coincidence?”

Owen snorted, “I hope so, but Barry didn’t say too much about what was wrong.”

//

As Barry got off the phone with Owen, he looked worriedly at the raptors. Most of the staff had evacuated the catwalk over the enclosure, but Barry stayed back to keep on eye on his girls. He couldn’t claim to be as attached to them as Owen was, but seeing them like this concerned him. 

Below him, the velociraptors hissed incessantly; there wasn’t a silent moment as one of them was constantly barking or shrieking. They ran through the foliage after each other at full speed, teeth gnashing in pursuit of flesh in some horrifying game of tag. Sometimes one would get a scratch on another, but Barry had yet to see any of them seriously injured at the hands of their sisters. 

He was already intimately aware of how aggressive these creatures were, but there was something innately wrong with this new behavior. They often scratched each other as the result of playful fighting, but now it looked like they were after blood. 

//

They pulled into the raptor paddock and the jeep came to a stop in front of the iron bars of the enclosure.

“You could stay in here if you wanted.” Owen suggested, but Lara was already throwing open her door.

Immediately they could tell something was amiss; the sound of claws on metal rang through the enclosure and Owen realized the raptors must have been in their cages.

“Why aren’t they in full restraints?” Owen asked a flustered looking Barry.

“They’ve been too wild.” He answered, “No one would get near them after they attacked Charlie.”

Owen strode quickly over to the entrance of the enclosure; there he could fully see what Barry was talking about. Charlie lay on her side in the middle of the clearing, growling halfheartedly. He could just make out a scarlet gash across her midsection.

“Open the gate.” He demanded.

Barry obliged and the iron bars slowly rose.

“Is it safe?” Lara asked tentatively, watching the barely breathing raptor.

“I don’t think she has the energy to get up.”

Hesitantly she followed him through the heavy gates and into the paddock. Owen approached Charlie slowly, falling to his knees by her head to stroke her snout reassuringly. Lara lingered behind and tried to inventory the raptor’s injuries from her position.

There were three deep gashes running down the side of the animal, all the way from its neck to just above its hind leg. From what Lara could tell it seemed like the raptors had been fighting with each other, but there were no teeth marks that could imply lethal intent. 

Owen ran a hand gently over the open wounds. At his touch Charlie’s head reared up and her jaws snapped wildly at him, but Owen gave no signs that he was afraid of her. 

“Did you sedate her?”

“With a light dosage.” Barry answered. 

Wordlessly Owen unhooked his belt and pulled it out of the loops. Carefully he wound it around Charlie’s jaws, binding them closed. 

“Lara, do you think you can pick her up?”

She nodded uncertainly and helped the two men heave the raptor up. Charlie flailed angrily in their hands, which made carrying her even harder than it already was for Lara. Her skin felt rough as it scraped against Lara’s palm, but it felt more like an old piece of leather than the lizard-like texture she had been expecting. 

“Are you gonna take her to the lab?” Barry asked.

“No, the medical cabin is closer. I want these scratches taken care of first.”

They slowly made it out of the enclosure and finally set Charlie down in the back seat of the jeep. Owen lingered by her head for a second, deciding whether or not he could take his belt back just yet. Ultimately he left her jaws tied shut and jumped into the front with Lara.

“Did you tell anyone from control?” Owen leaned out the window to give Barry parting instructions.

“Not yet.”

“Call Asset Containment and have them pick her up at the medical cabin.” He looked anxiously towards the raptor cages, I’ll come back and take a look at the others later.”

//

The medical cabin was much smaller than Lara had been expecting. After seen all the grand buildings in the park she was surprised to see that it only had one large consulting room and another smaller room in the back that kept the machinery they needed. To her it looked more like a hunting cabin that happened to be capable of taking X-rays.

“This is only an emergency location.” A doctor explained to her as the others helped Owen carry Charlie in, “We’re just going to assess the velociraptor’s condition and decide whether or not her injuries are severe enough to send her to the main medical building.”

They spoke briefly before he excused himself to take a look at Charlie. Owen hung over the doctors like a nervous mother until he could offer them no more information and faded into the background.

“Do the doctors have any theories yet?” Lara asked when he came to stand beside her.

“They’re just treating the scratches until she can be transported back to the lab.” 

Charlie was strapped down to the table, her aggression seemed to bubble up to the surface once more as she bucked and squirmed against her bindings. They had a hard time keeping her still enough to work, but ultimately they were able to dress the wounds.

Lara walked outside of the cabin and sat down in the grass. She felt like she was just in the way of the doctors and preferred to stay out of the room until Owen came out with more news. 

In the distance she could see a small herd of stegosauruses bow their heads to drink from the river before ambling about towards the woods. An apatosaurus poked it’s long neck through the leaves, followed by a second and then a third.

In that moment Lara was struck by how beautiful the park truly was. While it was thrilling to see the velociraptor or the T-rex and know that they could kill her in a second, Lara couldn’t help but feel serenely happy watching the docile herbivores mill about. 

Before news came, however, there was a loud crash followed by screams that ripped Lara from her thoughts. Immediately she jumped to her feet, but before she could go investigate Charlie shot through the open door and ran full speed through the field. 

Owen was the next to run out, pointing a tranquilizer gun at the rapidly moving raptor. With a frustrated sigh he lowered the gun, realizing that she was too far already. 

“What happened?” Lara shouted, the screams from the cabin still hadn’t fully subsided.

“She broke out.” Owen ran back inside with Lara close behind. 

The doctor that Lara spoke to earlier was propped up against the wall, clutching a bloody arm against his chest. He must have been the closest to Charlie when she broke free. Another doctor bore deep scratches on her chest and was struggling to put pressure on the wounds. Lara ran to help, but she was shunted to the side by a nurse.

Owen dug around in a cabinet and produced another tranq gun, which he passed to Lara. 

“We can’t let her run loose.” Without waiting for a reply, he was out the door.

Lara made for the door, but paused when she noticed the barrel of a gun sticking out of a container. The strap of a shotgun hung out of the open box and Lara quickly pulled it out and dropped her tranquilizer in favor of a lethal weapon. She grabbed a handful of ammunition, first loading the gun and then shoving a few extra shells in her pocket. Only once she swung the loaded shotgun over her shoulder did she follow Owen.

//

In the field, every innocuous sound became ominous when one was hunting for a loose velociraptor. 

Lara wandered through the grass, clutching her gun against her chest and making sure that she didn’t stray too far from Owen. Asset containment was apparently on its way, but she was still regretting leaving the safety of the medical cabin before they came. A few meters in front of her, Owen was moving purposefully towards the woods with his gun drawn and ready. He looked like he knew what he was doing and Lara quickly realized that she had gotten in over her head.

They reached the edge of the woods and enormous trees started to infringe upon their view. Through the leaves it was nearly impossible to see further than five feet in front of them. 

“Do you think this is a good idea?” Lara asked warily.

Owen looked for a moment as if he were ready to chance it in the thick foliage, but turned back to Lara.

“Nah, you’re right.” He said, “We can double back and go across the river.”

Lara could hardly feel safer by the river, but she only hoped that backup would come before they encountered Charlie again. She swung the strap over her shoulder to free her hand as they walked. The shotgun bounced against her back with every step to make sure that she couldn’t quite let her guard down. 

In the distance she heard branches snapping, making the birds fly off of the tree tops. Lara cast a nervous look at Owen, but he assured her that a raptor wouldn’t make that much noise in a hunt. 

The forest was silent again until they heard the distinctive barking noise of the velociraptor.

“She’s looking for her pack.” Owen said. 

“Oh, is that all?” Lara asked, feeling for her gun again.

Owen didn’t reply, instead he brought his tranq gun to the ready and began to move towards the sound. For a second Lara hesitated, but she would rather be in the dense forest with Owen than in the field alone. After the initial noise it was eerily quiet. Lara saw no indication that the raptor was near until Owen nudged her and pointed at a bush about a hundred meters away.

Charlie’s greenish nose poked through the leaves, almost perfectly camouflaged if not for the slight yellowish markings. They could not see her eyes so they could only assume that she was watching them. 

“Can you make a shot from here?” Lara asked.

Owen shook his head, “Not clear enough.”

Lara shifted her weight uneasily from foot to foot, not taking her eyes off Charlie. She didn’t know if they ought to move closer or back away, but neither option looked favorable at the moment. 

Luckily for her, she didn’t have to make a choice.

Charlie shot out of the bushes, tail waving behind her as she ran towards them with her teeth bared. Owen was caught off guard and he fumbled with the tranq gun, struggling to get a shot off. The dart missed her neck, instead it plunged into her thigh leaving Charlie relatively unfazed. 

Owen reached into his bag, trying desperately to pull out another dart but Charlie was already upon him. Her pace slowed as she came within feet of Owen. She lunged at him, jaws snapping wildly, and Owen stumbled over the rocky shore, nearly tripping back into the river. He tried once more to load the tranquilizer dart, but Charlie gave an angry shriek at the sudden movement and knocked him over with the top of her head. 

His gun went flying out of his hands and into the water. The gentle current carried it lazily downstream, but Owen paid no mind to it as he looked up at the predator above him. She descended on him, head cocking from side to side as if she were trying to pick the best angle to plunge her teeth into him. Owen kicked up furiously in a last ditch effort to get her off of him, but it was no use.

He heard Lara shout his name and Charlie backed off to find the source of the scream. Lara stood frozen in place, watching in horror. Her gun still lie forgotten on her back and her eyes went wide as she realized Charlie was looking at her now. 

“Oh fuck.” she mumbled, backing away, “What now.”

“Take a shot or throw me the fucking gun!” Owen yelled as he scrambled to his feet. 

With that, she remembered the weight over her shoulder and pulled the shotgun into her shaking hands. Quickly she tossed it towards Owen where it bounced heavily on the grass before Owen could scoop it up. 

By the time Owen had the gun, Charlie had started to walk predatorily toward her. Lara unconsciously stopped moving backwards and just stood in place, staring up at Charlie. She could hear the shotgun click as Owen tried to cock it as fast as he could, but all other sounds were drowned out once the raptor leapt on her. 

Lara felt claws dig into her shoulders as she was pushed the the ground. She struggled for breath and the weight of the animal seemed to crush her bones. She wasn’t certain whether she yelled or not, everything seemed to be happening so fast that she was barely in control of her actions. For a second she looked up and saw Charlie’s jaws open inches above her face, all that was left was to wait for the teeth to bear down on her. But they never came. 

She heard a gunshot and the weight was suddenly gone. The claws tore further through her shoulders as Charlie fell, but that pain was nothing compared to what Lara had been anticipating. Still in a panic Lara rolled away from the raptor; her chest was heaving and her eyes shut tight as she lay on her back waiting for the adrenaline to subside. 

Slowly she opened her eyes as her breathing began to return to normal, her head turned cautiously to assure herself that Charlie wasn’t going to get up. Owen had shouldered the shotgun and knelt down beside her to help her into a sitting position.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She told him. 

He took a moment to look at the puncture wounds that Charlie’s claws had left, apparently satisfied that they weren’t too serious he moved to tend to Charlie herself. 

“She’s dead.” 

Lara heard a somber note in his voice, but she could feel nothing but relief at the news. He left the raptor’s side and tore the sleeve from his shirt, wrapping it tightly across the deepest of Lara’s scratches to slow the bleeding.

She stood up slowly, legs still shaky from her encounter. Owen offered her a hand, but she waved it away. They walked silently until Owen paused to look at her.

“You didn’t take the tranquilizer.”

For a moment she considered apologizing, but she didn't feel the least bit apologetic. 

“Your tranq didn’t work.” She said coldly. 

He seemed like he might argue with her, however, one look at her bloodstained shirt made him think better of it. 

“Better Charlie dead than either of us.” He replied before lapsing into silence again.


	9. Tend To Your Wounds

Claire sat in her office with her back to the door. Since receiving Barry’s call she was anticipating Owen’s arrival at any moment and couldn’t exactly claim that she was looking forward to it. He would yell, she knew that much, but the contents of his tirade were still largely unknown to her. 

The door open and closed quietly, it was so calm that Claire didn’t think it was Owen until she heard his voice.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing.”

Claire rolled her eyes before turning to face him. Immediately she was caught off guard by the state of him; Barry had told her that the velociraptors had been acting strangely since the virus was administered, but now Owen was standing before her looking like he had picked a fight with one of them.

“What happened?” She asked, genuinely concerned.

“It’s Wu’s virus bullshit. Whatever he did messed up the raptors.”

“I meant to you.”

He looked down at his dirtied clothes, as if realizing for the first time that he was caked in mud from when Charlie knocked him down, “They didn’t tell you?”

Claire shook her head and Owen sighed heavily before filling her in. He might have been a little more graphic than necessary, but he hoped that if he gave her a horror story she might be swayed his way.

“The velociraptors were always unpredictable, you know that.” Claire said once he finished, “We simply can’t be certain that the virus had anything to do with this.”

“You can’t honestly believe-”

Claire held up a hand to silence him, “I’m absolutely aware that it’s a possibility, but I won’t let you cast that kind of judgement until the proper tests are conducted.”

“And the raptors just have to suffer until your scientists can cover their asses enough to avoid liability?”

“Not exactly.” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The next course of action had already been discussed, though she was hoping that she could just gloss over it quickly with Owen. “You see, this is the type of behavior that Dr. Wu’s virus was created to handle. If we were to wipe out the species we could conduct the tests we need and repopulate the enclosure with a more docile breed of raptor.”

Owen snorted, “Docile? You’re breeding predators and expect to open a petting zoo!”

“You’ve shown that they’re trainable. Obviously they aren’t fluffy bunnies, but wouldn’t it be easier for you if they were at least a little calmer?”

“Don’t try to turn this on me, Claire. The raptors have done something that you don’t like so now you’ll just destroy them and start over again because you can.”

“That “something” they did was attack you. Violent dogs get put down; this is no different.”

“Only you can’t genetically engineer yourself a new dog to replace it.”

Claire was about to make a comment about how dog breeders basically do just that, but figured Owen wouldn’t appreciate it. She crossed her legs and spread her hands over the desk as if to signify that the choice was no longer hers. Both of them knew that the decision was very much hers to make, but Claire had already made the call and refused to look indecisive in front of her staff. 

“I’m sorry, Owen. This isn’t a nature preserve, it’s a business.”

//

A tall, dark haired woman pushed the sleeves of her jacket up impatiently. She stood over the raptor, eyes sweeping from the animal to the operating procedure projected on the nearby computer screen, waiting for Wu to set her loose. It hadn’t been long since the fatal shot, but the blood around the gory wound had already dried thickly on the animal’s rough skin. Sofia chipped off a chunk of the hardened blood and set it aside in a little petri dish; the rest she washed off easily with a damp rag to get a better look at the entry wounds. 

Henry Wu stood just outside the glass walls of the lab, trying to talk two paleontologists out of interfering with the autopsy. Secretly he was thankful for Lara’s injuries so that he wouldn’t have to deal with a gloating chaotician as well. 

“Please, Dr. Sattler, these results will take time. We won’t get any answers if I have to stand here and block you from entering my lab.”

“With all due respect,” Alan cut in, “I think we're plenty qualified."

“I don’t doubt your credentials, only your partisanship.”

“What are you implying?” 

“Let me do my job before you make any assumptions.”

Ellie put a steadying hand on her husband’s arm and backed off of the argument. She didn’t trust Wu for a moment, but her and Alan would get nowhere by shouting at him. It was infuriating, but she had to let the smug scientist retreat back into his lab. 

“If you investigate yourself then how can anyone ever hope for unbiased answers?” Alan muttered bitterly.

Ellie tried to be neutral on the matter, though she clearly sided with Alan, “We have to trust that the autopsy will tell us if he’s to blame.”

//

Though Wu called it an autopsy, with their technology there was little need to actually open up the beast. With him back in the lab, Sofia was finally free to start taking blood and tissue samples for testing. Wu hardly looked at the dead raptor, instead he lingered over his computer and called out questions to Sofia as she did the dirty work. 

“Can you handle the tests yourself?” He asked eventually.

“Of course.” She looked at him curiously. This was a serious task that, on the surface, seemed to indicate problems with his virus. She knew that he must have been nervous about the results, but she couldn’t imagine him leaving before they finished the tests. 

“Then tell me when you’re done.”

With that he slammed his laptop shut, hastily packing it away before he flew out of the lab. For a moment Sofia watched the door, wondering whether or not she ought to catch up to him. Ultimately that wasn’t her problem. She had to finish these tests as soon as she could so that the administration could have answers, Wu’s nerves weren’t her responsibility. 

She collected the blood and tissue samples and sent them off for testing before she pulled off her rubber gloves and set herself up at Dr. Wu’s desktop. As she signed in under his username the Jurassic World screensaver popped up, followed by about fifteen file shortcuts. Quickly she found the one entitled “Velociraptor” and opened it up to find four separate sub folders.

The wheels of the chair squeaked as she pushed back from the desk to get a better look at the dead raptor’s markings.

“VR-C04” She mumbled to herself as she identified the raptor and dragged her cursor up to click the corresponding folder.

Inside were Charlie’s records. From this page Sofia could access everything from the DNA sequence to average blood pressure measurements. Sofia sighed quietly when she realized that she may be in for more work than she originally thought. 

She pulled open the file containing Charlie’s external examinations - a nearly 10 page PDF containing every visible characteristic ranging from eye color all the way to claw length. Pulling on a new pair of gloves, Sofia wheeled her chair back to begin looking for external anomalies. 

It took her nearly two hours to finish cataloging every aspect. Frustratingly she found no real differences externally besides the obvious shotgun wound, but that told them nothing. She took a sample of the raptor’s claws and a swab from inside her mouth and set them aside for further tests. 

By that time the blood work had been completed and a thick folder waited for her attention. The raptor was beginning to smell unpleasant behind her, the distinct odor of slowly rotting flesh from the gaping wound was beginning to hit Sofia in the small room and she had to take the folder outside for a minute. 

In the hallway she sunk down against the wall, balancing the papers on her knees as she read. Giving into temptation, Sofia jumped ahead in the folder to the toxicology report. If there were any signs that a disease or outside tampering was the cause of the sudden behavioral changes, she would find her answers here. She took a look at the page and tucked it away in a separate folder. 

From there she could sort through any abnormalities in blood platelet levels and analyse the animal’s DNA. It was possible that some factors could have induced DNA mutation with the experimental drugs they were developing, but after a painstaking cross-check it was clear at least in the most likely areas bore no differences. She would have to put the entire DNA strand through their computers for definitive answers, but she was fairly confident now that nothing had been altered in the DNA. 

Sofia heard footsteps down the hall and looked up in time to see three lab techs round the corner. She stood up and tucked the files under her arm to greet them.

“X-rays?” She asked, eyeing the clipboard in the tech’s hand.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Just in time.” She smiled at him indulgently, “Get her out of here before I have to hang some air fresheners from the lamps.”

The men entered the office wordlessly only to reappear moments later with the decaying raptor across their shoulders. Sofia was glad to see it go as she was able to reclaim the small office space for herself once again. 

With a quick spray of her perfume Sofia sat down in front of the computer and thumbed over the phone. 

“Dr. Wu?” She decided to call her boss. 

“Yes?”

“I just got the blood work back, would you like me to send you the results?”

The line was silent for a prolonged pause until Wu finally made the call, “No, no, I’ll be there in a minute.”

//

“Is it good news?” He asked wearily as he shut the door behind him. 

“There were no traces of your virus in the velociraptor’s bloodstream.” Sofia handed him the folder.

Wu visibly perked up at her words and he sighed in relief as he flipped through the first few pages of the report. 

“I’ll be able to continue my research.” 

“You will.” She nodded.

He read through Sofia’s side notes, trying to piece together a summary of the autopsy without having to go through each page. Though he tried to remain neutral and avoid absolving himself from all responsibility, it was difficult for him to keep a level head. After his initial impression of the data, Wu could think of nothing besides the research he would be able to conduct after proving his innocence to Claire. 

“Do we know what caused the behavioral changes yet?” Wu came back to reality for a moment.

“Not yet. I’ll have to look at a few other factors in more detail.”

“That’s fine. As long as we aren’t to blame.” He offered her a rare, genuine smile. 

While he might have been happy, Sofia knew that there was so much raw data left to sort through before they could find a concrete cause. Not that Wu particularly cared after he got the answers he was looking for, but her work was long from complete. 

//

Owen slammed the office door as he left. It was childish, certainly, but sometimes he felt like those petty reactions were the only way to get through to Claire. What bothered him the most, however, is that he knew he wouldn’t be able to sway her on this. Sometimes he could influence her decisions by offering his “expert opinion” or by being a voice of moral reason, but she was resolute. It was painful to think that Claire would be judge, jury, and executioner and he would not even be able to submit an appeal this time. 

He was still angry when passed by the medical corridor, but softened minutely when he noticed Ian sitting alone outside the clinic door. Ian’s legs were crossed and he stared blankly at the opposite wall, apparently oblivious to Owen’s approach. What struck Owen most was that the unadulterated concern Ian had expressed when he first saw Lara return was replaced by a sort of patient boredom. He looked like a man who had been in this position before. 

“I’m sorry about Lara.” Owen said awkwardly as he sat beside the man, “I shouldn’t have brought her along.”

“Don’t be. She likes getting herself into trouble.” Ian laughed, “I’m just relieved that it wasn’t anything worse.”

“Worse than a velociraptor?”

“Well, I, uh, had quite the run in with a T-rex a few years back.”

“I’m surprised you accepted the invitation.” Owen said after a moment.

“Because I keep predicting doomsday?”

Owen nodded.

Ian shifted in his seat irritably, like he was tired of having this conversation. Nevertheless he answered Owen pleasantly enough for a man in his situation, “People like Claire or John Hammond won’t listen until something goes wrong. I keep hoping I’ll say something that gets through to them before armageddon happens.”

“But isn’t it dangerous for you to go somewhere you think will fail spectacularly?”

“Danger keeps Lara and I interested.” He shrugged, “Neither of us were made for peaceful suburban life.”

The door beside Ian gave a click and slowly swung open. Lara stepped out of the clinic, both shoulders lightly bandaged, her lips curled into a bemused smile as she caught sight of the two men waiting for her. Once the blood had been cleared away, Owen realized that both of them were incredibly lucky. It was nearly a miracle that neither of them had been killed, and even more extraordinary was the fact that they had all of their limbs. Even though Lara clothes showed the dirt and tears from the struggle, she seemed to be in high spirits. 

“All right?” Ian asked.

“Never better.” She grinned at Ian, but became serious as she looked over his shoulder at Owen, “I’m sorry about your raptor, honestly.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Owen said, “I pulled the trigger.”

Lara locked eyes with him, “Thank you for that.” 

Ian took her by the arm and kissed her lightly on the cheek, “We should go. I’d feel better if you’d relax for a bit.”

“You worry.” She teased, but let him lead her away.


	10. The Enclosure

It was getting late and the other guys were already itching to go home, but Barry thought it irresponsible to leave the enclosure with the fate of the raptors still largely unknown. Throughout the afternoon the sounds from the raptor cages rarely ceased. There were a few moments where Barry thought they might have become docile enough to be put in full restraints, but as soon as anyone drew near the snarling commenced anew. 

With the raptors out of the main enclosure some of the men took this opportunity to investigate. Barry watched overhead as a handful of men searched through the foliage for anything that could be taken to explain the change in behavior. At their invasion that velociraptors had begun barking incessantly, but in the past hour Barry scarcely heard a sound from them.

A few hours previously Barry had received a call from Claire Dearing. It wasn’t often that he got to answer her calls; when the office phone started ringing instead of Owen’s mobile phone Barry knew that Owen must have been right alongside her. He answered her placidly, already anticipating what she had to say to him. The raptors would be killed and he would get his replacements presently. The phone call lasted no more than five minutes and Barry said no more than three unique words before he hung up. All that was left for him now was to wait until they sent someone out. 

After that the phone rang for a second time. Plans had been changed and Barry was to wait in the enclosure until they sent word. Barry grunted in assent before he replaced the receiver. Let them argue about the next move, he figured. That was above his paygrade. He was only responsible for babysitting the raptors and whatever was happening to them now was beyond his concern. 

Now the raptors were silent again, save for a soft purring sound and the occasional tail bashing against the metal cage. Their faces pressed against the doors, trying to see out at the men rummaging around their home. The men, for their part, paid no mind to the beasts that lay so near to them. They hacked back the dense leaves with heavy machetes and swept across the grounds with their flashlights. None of them were sure of what they were in search of, but they came across nothing out if the ordinary. All the plants were in order, though they already knew they would be. For a while after the initial symptoms were discovered, the idea was tossed about that maybe they had overlooked a poisonous plant while they were planning the enclosure. Once that theory was proved false, they thought that an animal may have gotten in that was either venomous or otherwise reacted adversely with the raptors. Barry knew nothing of the virus that wiped out the microceratus, if he had then perhaps his men might have sent blood samples of the raptors back to the lab. But they didn’t, so when they ruled out natural occurrences they began to look towards foul play.   
Hidden in the tall grass, one man noticed the glint of metal. He set his flashlight down beside him and kneeled down to carefully inspect his finding. The piece of metal was no longer than his middle finger and extremely thin, he lifted it in front of the light beam as if that would help him identify it. He thought it might be a needle fallen from the tranquilizers or possibly part of the gun mechanism itself, but in reality it could have been from virtually anything. He slipped it into his backpack, making a mental note to bring it up to either Barry or Owen. 

He emerged from the trees to find Barry standing in front of the raptor cages, flanked by two other men. 

“What is it?” He called to them.

“David! Come help.” Barry waved him over. 

The raptors seemed at ease, David might have assumed they were asleep if he didn’t know better; he couldn’t imagine why such a large group was beginning to amass in front of the gate. 

“What is it?” He asked again, drawing up alongside Barry.

“The harnesses locked up.” Barry explained, “They look calm enough to be put in full restraints, but the mechanism broke.”

David didn’t reply, instead he gave his superior a look that begged the question “well, what do you want me to do about that?”. Barry sighed, pulling up the bottom of his stained wifebeater to wipe the sweat from his neck. He peered through the bars into the cage, relieved that he didn’t meet the eye of a raptor because he was already anxious enough standing so close to them. On the outside of the cage he knew there was a release lever that would reset the mechanism, but that would require someone to stick their finger a little closer inside than Barry would have liked. 

“Go around to the other side and I’ll tell you what to grab.”

David trudged out of the enclosure, annoyed with the extra work. He neglected to shut the safety bars behind him as he begrudgingly left the enclosure. Besides, he would be back in a minute and those gates took almost three times as long to open and shut again. Outside he found the raptor cages again, they protruded slightly from the uniform octagonal walls. Though he could not see into the cage from his position, David felt the raptor near him. Its breaths were steady, not laboured or erratic as they had been earlier. 

“I’m here!”

“All right.” He heard Barry’s voice float over the walls, “Can you see the control panel in the middle? It should be reddish.”

David called back a confirmation, the panel was rather hard to miss against the concrete and metal structures. 

“Good, open it.”

“No shit, Barry. I didn’t walk over here to stare at it.”

A few of the other men laughed, but Barry was starting to think he should have just gone himself. One of the raptors pushed its head against the back of the sheet metal, causing David to jump.

“Okay, okay, what am I doing here?”

The raptor hit against the panel again, causing a loud metal on metal scraping noise to drown out Barry’s response.

“Say again?” David yelled louder.

“Drop the lever and hit the reset button.”

He did as he was told, trying to ignore the screeching noise coming from the cage. The lever slid down into position with a heavy click and David ghosted over the four buttons before he found the one labeled “reset”. 

“Did you do it?” Barry shouted impatiently.

“Yeah, calm down. Just a second.” 

He pushed the button down and was about to relay that back to Barry, but the back of the raptor cage caught his eye. David backed up from the control panel to get a better look at the metal sheet. the thin metal had given way to the raptor’s aggression and began to bow out. A distinct bulge protruded from the back and he heard a scratching sound again. The raptor hit against the cage once more and David leapt backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet. 

There was a prolonged scratching noise and David watched as the bottom of the cage began to peel upwards. The metal tore loudly and a claw poked out of the resulting hole. It dug at the soft dirt ground before disappearing back into the darkness. The animal pressed itself against the wall and another protrusion arose from the metal. 

“What’s happening?” Someone yelled from inside the enclosure. 

A claw pushed out of the small opening again briefly before backing up. David knew what was about to happen before the raptor even moved, but still he could not will himself to run or even look away. The sheet metal made a very odd noise as the velociraptor crashed against it. 

The steel panel ripped from the wall and thumped into the dirt below, leaving a rather strained looking velociraptor standing atop it. Blue wasted no more than a moment reveling in the newfound freedom before charging out of the opening. Echo and Delta screeched as they heard Blue escaping and resumed bashing their tails against the cage. 

As soon as Blue turned to look at David, he regained the use of his legs and started to bolt back into the enclosure. His heart raced and he barely breathed as he willed the beast to become disinterested. Close behind him, David could hear the raptor kicking up dirt as she pursued and he knew that he would never be able to outrun her once she reached full speed. 

He reached the entrance to the enclosure, slipping slightly as he turned and grasped for the bars. A claw dug into his bag. tearing his backpack from his shoulders and digging into his skin. David screamed in pain and tried to tighten his grip on the bars, but Blue was already upon him. He was waiting to feel her sharp teeth dig into him, but they never came. Instead she tore into him with her claws, slashing at his skin as they plunged into his flesh. David’s screams took on a wet quality as his lungs filled with blood and began to collapse. 

But Blue did not finish him off. She left him a bloody mess wrapped around the bars, coughing blood and wheezing with each painful breath. Her head cocked to one side as she raised her body higher. The metallic sound had continued to emanate from the cages and Blue doubled back to investigate.

She clawed at the back of the metal, not unlike a cat scratching to get in. Barry and the men had clambered onto the scaffolding once they had heard David’s screams. No one said a thing, but it was clear that none of them were willing to risk their lives to either recapture Blue or save David’s life. Their weapons were dispersed on the grounds and inside the building, yet no one made a move to recover them. 

The metal ripped upwards and Blue backed up, allowing her sister to crash through the cage just as she had done minutes before. Only Echo remained caged and she rammed against the metal with increased urgency. Delta and Blue paced in front of the cage, occasionally running themselves into the metal. 

Overhead a few men mustered up the courage to creep towards that side of the enclosure to look at the raptors. Among them was Barry who finally had the presence of mind to unhook the SATphone from his belt. He called Owen directly; it rang only twice before he answered.

“The raptors are out.” Barry was too panicked to even raise his voice above a whisper, “Blue and Delta are out. Echo is contained, but I don’t know for how long. I think one person is dead.”

Owen tried to reassure him, but shock and fear radiated from the tinny voice that streamed from the handset. He promised that asset containment would be there momentarily, but Barry thought they might be too late.

“Echo is out.”


	11. Hide and Seek

The trees looked grey under the night vision lenses, even the control room itself took on a black and white quality as each monitor projected a different monochrome scene. In the darkness, every reflection of moonlight seemed to be the glint of an eye or a flash of claws to the technicians. 

The velociraptors wore tracking devices just beneath the surface of their rough skin, but knowing their coordinates did not help Claire spot them through the leaves. 

“Can you get a clearer image?” She sighed, trying to look more annoyed than worried.

“We can sharpen the image, but there isn’t a thing we can do about trees in front of the camera.” Lowery answered.

He toyed with joystick and the corresponding monitor showed the camera pan around the area. The forest was dense in that sector and the camera could only find a few open angles before being covered by leaves again. 

“At least we know where they are.” Claire leaned over Lowery’s shoulder, still trying to get a glimpse of the loose animals. 

Even when they saw part of a tail peek through the bushes, watching the screens was infuriating. The periods of inaction between sightings was enough to drive her mad. Claire knew that the next move would come from the lab, but she had been trying to put off that eventuality until she ran through other options. As she watched the minutes scroll along the bottom of the monitor she knew that her time was running short and a concrete plan of action was needed soon. 

//

“I know it was you. I will tear that ridiculous ‘bungalow’ to fucking pieces if I have to, Owen!”

It had taken him no time at all to reach the lab after her call, but every second that he wasn’t there added fuel to her fire. By the time he reached her, she had already mapped out half of her tirade in her head and was only waiting for her victim to release it upon.

“We’re not a goddamn charity! I will kill these animals if I damn well please.” Claire continued, “It is my responsibility to run this park as I see fit, just as it was your responsibility to make sure those cages could hold them!”

She had been nigh unwilling to ask Wu for his opinion on what to do next, as she knew full well that he was already itching to test Ragnarok on a predator. Though she would set out after the raptors herself before admitting it to Owen, Claire was hesitant to use something so experimental in such a serious situation. Having that option struck from her, however, did not offer any relief or win Owen any goodwill for doing whatever he saw fit yet again. 

Admittedly she was shocked to see that Owen was more withdrawn than usual as he stood in front of her. Between them there was the feeling that he had really fucked up this time, but he also stood by his decision to steal the viruses and refused to yield her any ground. 

“We built those cages with a two tiered safety measure.” He argued, “The raptors couldn’t be restrained properly because of whatever your scientists have done.”

“Then you should have engineered a third tier! You can’t blame Dr. Wu when your sector fails; anyway we now have the toxicology report that shows no abnormalities.”

Owen was cowed momentarily, he backed off the argument as he saw his moral high ground slowly slip away. 

“When will they present the autopsy results?” He took on a much calmer tone. 

Claire laughed loudly, her hand shaking in agitation as she swept her bangs back, “Forgive me, but more pressing matters have arisen. When I’m finished here I’ll have to direct the asset containment team, because, you know, we’ve suddenly found ourselves in need of some fucking containment.”

“I can help. I know the raptors, where they’ll probably be and stuff. You might need me.”

“If you wanted to help me, you would give me that virus. As for you going after the raptors, I don’t care what you do. Let them tear you apart if you want, but I’m not sending you out with my team.”

"Claire, I don't have Ragnarok -"

They both halted as they heard the soft sound of the pneumatic door slide open. Ellie and Alan walked out of the elevator and paused in front of Claire and Owen

“You’re still here?” Alan asked bluntly, his grace period for niceties had long since passed. 

“Yes, excuse me. I should be heading back to the control room.” Claire cut their conversation short, straightening herself out to address Owen one last time, “You’re welcome to speak with Dr. Wu, Mr Grady. However, I can offer you no more of my time.”

With that she strode into the recently vacated elevator, not meeting anyone’s eye as the double doors shut in front of her. 

“Not good?” Ellie asked after Claire was out of earshot. 

“Not at all, I probably deserved most of it though.” Owen sighed heavily, “After she gets this under control, she’s going to ask for my resignation.”

“She’ll be hard pressed to get things under control without your help and she knows that. She wouldn’t fire you.”

“If she’ll accept my help, that is. You might have noticed that she didn’t leave on the best of terms.”

“That’s insane.” Ellie scoffed at the thought, “It’s not like you opened the gates for them to run wild.”

“She’ll come around, Owen.” Allen put in, “She said Wu finished the autopsy?”

“Yeah, nothing weird apparently. I don’t know what to make of it; just a few days ago they seemed normal. They were listening to me just fine.” 

“They’re genetic abnormalities in themselves, you can’t expect them to be predictable.”

Owen paused for a moment, glancing at the whiteness of the lab and the one nondescript door that kept the real work hidden. 

“I want to go after them myself.” He said.

“Do you have any weapons?” Allen asked.

“Yeah, of course, I have access to the containment units armory.”

“Enough for Ellie and I then?” 

Owen was taken aback by their immediate willingness to join him. He hadn’t planned on even asking, but had he tried he assumed he would have needed to convince them.

“I mean, you weren’t planning on hunting them alone, were you?” Allen added.

“No, you’re right. If you’re both sure, I’d love to have the two of you.”

“This is essentially why we’re here, Owen. Of course we’re coming.”


	12. An Old Friend

Sofia shoved her ID badge into her pocket and freed her thick hair from the tight bun as she left the lab. The lights dimmed behind her and shut off completely after she locked the door. By her design she was the last person out of the building. Dr. Wu never liked to finish the tedious filing of the day’s research and was all too happy to leave Sofia to finish the paperwork; for her part, Sofia always welcomed the opportunity to snoop through the computers when no one was looking over her shoulder. 

Outside, the lights shone brightly across the main visitor areas and made the whole strip feel like a well-organized block party. People chatted loudly as they had dinner or went out for drinks, even laughing obnoxiously as they walked through the gift shops. Her backpack swung on her shoulder, knocking lightly against her back as she walked through the crowds. 

Sitting at a small table, a slightly balding blond man caught Sofia’s eye as she walked past. He had only a half drunk beer sitting in front of him, which he brought to his lips almost mechanically as she winked at him. 

“You’re brave coming here.” She sat down across from him. 

A straw hat bounced rapidly on his knee and Sofia raised a hand for the waiter, ordering a glass of wine while she sized her companion up. Their meetings had become few and far between since she took the position at Jurassic World, but even though he was certainly showing his age now, it always amused her to see him so serious and rigid. 

“Do you have what you said you do?”

“Relax.” Sofia leaned back in the wicker chair, idly she thanked the waiter as he set down her drink, “As long as you’re here you might as well enjoy yourself before running right back to the mainland. I see you’ve started without me.” She gestured to his pint, “But don’t let me stop the fun.”

She couldn’t see his eyes through the dark sunglasses, but she could still predict the look he was giving her. It was always the same mix of distaste and distrust. 

“Well then.” She continued after he failed to reply, “Glad you didn’t fly all the way out here for a chat. I’ve got what I promised. You can have half now, but I’ll see the rest of it over myself.”

“That wasn’t the agreement.”

“I do the legwork, I set the terms.” She shrugged, “If you don’t like it, I’ll go myself, but I’d hate to abandon my research before it’s finished.”

He held his hand out in response, anticipating a stack of papers, but Sofia shook her head.

“More than that, darling.” With her foot, she slid her backpack under the table, “I said I wouldn’t disappoint.”

Watching the minute changes in his facial expression pleased her greatly before he quickly got himself under control again. By the time she finished speaking, his look of placid disinterest had returned. She knew for the past few months that she was slowly getting under his skin and she wanted nothing more than to push further. There had always been stories and rumors going around about his ruthless nature, especially when it concerned people getting in his way, but where she sat now, Sofia was untouchable and she knew it.

He didn’t acknowledge the bag that was now pressed against his trouser leg. Even if he didn’t trust her character, he trusted her ambition. There was no reason for him to check the contents because she would gain nothing from screwing him over now. 

“So? You’re still on the payroll?” She asked. 

“For another month.”

“Preparing for retirement?”

Her blasé attitude quickly got on his nerves as he white-knuckled his glass, “You haven’t got the job yet.”

She laughed gaily, “I had the job a year ago after you fucked up in Honduras, this is only a formality.”

“You don’t have the title… or the salary.”

“Cling to your title, my king.” She smirked at him, “Because you don’t have the power anymore.”

“Power?” Now it was his turn to grin as he leaned across the table, “Is that what you call this? Playing “assistant” for a scientist much more capable than you?”

She waved him off, “You know our endgame. These few months are a fair price to pay for the information I’ve gathered.”

“If you were a better scientist you would have had your own lab. You wouldn’t be leeching off of someone much more intelligent than you.”

Sofia wasn’t certain if he meant Dr. Wu or himself, “If you were a better businessman I wouldn’t be here to clean up your messes.”

“Then you’re lucky aren’t you.” He had her where he wanted now; he knew she was intelligent, but she was about as headstrong as they came and he needed to knock her down a peg.

“Pardon?”

“You’re lucky then. Not quite original enough for a PhD, Not quite talented enough for Stanford… Or Berkeley, or Johns Hopkins. If I hadn’t stumbled upon you rotting away in the lab in Reno, the best opportunity you could have hoped for was an opening as a high school bio teacher. You got lucky.” 

Her eyes immediately hardened as he struck a nerve, but she wasn’t ready to back down. 

“Then you bred your own Brutus.” Sofia spat back.

“You’re right. I may be Caesar, but you’ll only be remembered for killing him. I created this entire industry, what you’re able to do now is only allowed because I was here first. Just because you take my job doesn’t mean you’ll be able to make even half the impact that I did.”

Sofia felt herself growing angrier by the second and feared that they would cause a scene if they stayed there for much longer. 

“Let the results speak for themselves. I’ve already done what you couldn’t.”

“And then what?” You’re going to ride this achievement for the rest of your fucking life.”

“And at the end of the month you’ll be forced out of the company, Lew. You can predict whatever the fuck you want about me, it just makes you sound bitter.”

He drained the rest of his beer and set the glass down heavily before throwing a few crumpled bills on the table.

“Take the charity. You won’t have a dollar to your name in two years.”

“I don’t need to wait two years to see your downfall, Dodgson. I’m watching it now.”

“Don’t use my name here.”

“Your name is all you have left.”

He stood and shouldered the backpack in one fluid movement, not bothering to look back at her as he left. Sofia was shaken by his abrupt exit and her heart beat rapidly as she came down from their quick confrontation. As he walked away it was hard to distinguish him from any other tourist; she wondered if that was why he always wore that stupid hat. Even though she had learned to fend off his jabs, she knew that taking his job would be an enormous challenge and that most of his attacks weren’t too far off base.

Dodgson always knew just where to stick the knife and that had made controlling her during the early days of her apprenticeship child’s play. After getting suspended from university she had been furious with the world for overlooking her talent, but also deeply unsure of herself and her abilities. Years of working with him had seen her confidence rise and fall in sharp spikes as he was a difficult man to please. Now she never tried to please him; the moment she stopped looking to Dodgson for approval was the moment that he lost control of her. After that, her arrogance only ballooned as she began taking shots at him to force him out of Biosyn. 

She counted the money that he threw down on the table; he was still a dollar shy of their total despite the dramatic display. Sofia chuckled to herself, digging in her pocket to correct the difference before leaving the table.

With her backpack of files already on their way to the mainland Sofia felt freer than she had in weeks. Seeing Dodgson again was a reminder that at the end of the month she would finally get off this island and leave Dr. Wu in a panic, searching for his research without the slightest idea of what she had been getting up to when he was away. The thought made her smile. 

But she had no time to think of the future for even a moment longer. She hadn’t foreseen the velociraptor escape and, though she was deemed nonessential to the containment efforts, it was clear that she would have to handle things very delicately for a while. Nevertheless it gave her own research a new angle to pursue and she was keen on taking the opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers if you haven't read The Lost World!  
> (I know Dodgson died, but he was too good of a character to resist bringing him back.)
> 
> Thanks again to everyone for sticking with this story!


	13. The Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short and took so long to post! I'm in Ireland for this semester so things have been rather crazy for me, but I'll try to get back into my regular posting.

In the morning sun it was abundantly clear just how ragged Barry was beginning to look. He stood in front of the deserted enclosure watching Owen’s jeep draw nearer. Nearby, what was left of David’s body still lie wrapped around the metal bars; everyone in the control room had been too busy to think about clean up and Barry’s hadn’t had the heart to stop his crew from running back to their lodgings as soon as the coast was clear.

But now he was very aware of how this scene would look to Owen, but he didn’t care. It had crossed his mind to move the body himself, but, goddamn, on the list of things he didn’t get paid enough to care about this was probably number one. Barry wanted nothing more than to fuck off back to his room like the others, but he had been made Owen’s second in command and still had to bear some responsibility even if his charges had flown the coop. 

“It’s, ah, a mess here, huh?” Owen greeted.

“You can say that again.”

“Where is everyone?” 

“Well that’s David over there.” Barry gestured vaguely to the body without turning to look, “And I’m right here.”

“I meant the rest of the staff, Barry.”

“I know what you meant. Why would they stick around any longer than they have to? The raptors are gone, we’ve got nothing to do.”

“I thought they might’ve went to help.”

Barry laughed, raising an eyebrow to his friend, “Not everyone wants to go above and beyond like you, mate.”

Alan and Ellie stood close at heel, neither wanted to interrupt the men but both seemed agitated. They had agreed to come with Owen to track the velociraptors, spending this much time talking to a man that clearly didn’t want to be there and had little information to offer them seemed like a waste of time. They were itching to get into the thick of things again. 

“Well, It’s not like me to take a backseat.” Owen shrugged.

“No it isn’t. You’re going after the raptors then, aren’t you?”

“We are. I came to ask if you wanted to join.”

“I’d fuck up the Three Musketeers vibe you’ve got going on.” Barry threw a glance to Alan and Ellie. It was immediately clear that he didn’t trust either of them to be able to hold their own if they actually came across the velociraptors. 

“Aw come on now. What’s a group with four people?”

“What of it?” Ellie snapped, “If he doesn’t want to come then calling ourselves the Fantastic Four won’t change anything.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Barry agreed, “I don’t know why you lot want to go.” 

“Look man, Ellie is right, we should get going if you’re not coming.”

“I’m not.” Barry shrugged, “So go ahead.”

Owen looked slightly let down, but didn’t press his friend any further. Barry would’ve been a good asset to the search party, he knew the raptors and he knew his way around a gun, but Owen knew better than to try to convince him. As they walked back to the jeep Owen still held onto hope that they might’ve given Barry something to think about at least. 

//

Lara lingered in front of the balcony doors, watching as the sun rose through the tall glass. Unconsciously she rolled her shoulders; the bandaging needed to be replaced after the night, now the gauze felt sticky as she moved her arms. There was a slight twinge of pain, she expected as much, but what caught her off guard was the stiffness. After a night's sleep Lara awoke to find pink tinged sheets and a numbness in her arm. Cautiously she eased herself up on her elbows, each muscle in her arms seemed to groan as they moved. It felt almost as if Lara could feel every tendon stretch under her skin as she stretched out her sore shoulders. 

When she looked at the still trees beneath, Lara's shoulders ached anew. She remembered lying on her back in the mud, staring into the snout of a beast. She knew what was happening to her, now she willed her panic to disappear. 

Ian was right. He was always right and she never listened to him. Lara was afraid, but she couldn't turn away from the island. She wondered if Ian felt the same way; he did agree to come back, even if he claimed it was for her, so he must have thought something here was worth seeing. 

And now Alan and Ellie were out chasing the beast that had very nearly killed her. 

Lara tapped a finger on the door handle. Slowly each finger followed suit, one after another, until she was gripping the cold metal. 

"Lara?" Ian called from the bathroom, her hand fell from the door as she turned. 

“Hmm?”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that we could leave.” He came into view, leaning on the doorframe and swinging his glasses idly in his hand as he spoke, “The boats are still running.”

She stared blankly at him for a minute as if she didn’t understand what he was saying. 

“Is this what it was like the first time?”

“I didn’t have the option of walking away clean from it last time.”

“After all these years they must have been able to fix something.”

“You can’t fix what they’re doing. It’s just not possible.”

Lara impatiently pushed her hair into a ponytail, letting it fall back against her back just as quickly as it went up. 

“I don’t want to leave, Ian.” She said, finishing with a heavy sigh as if the thought had been weighing on her.

“Won’t you let me at least try to talk you out of it?”

“Could you really run away from this? Leave Ellie and Alan out there for anything to happen.”

Ian didn’t grace her with a reply immediately. Instead he left the doorway to sit on the edge of the bed, not looking towards her again until she sat down beside him. 

“Yes, I could.” The effect of his words were instantaneous on her.

In a split second she was overwhelmed with an enormous sense of guilt. She had done this, she was the one that made him come to this damn island. How had she been so selfish after she saw first hand the state he was in after the T-rex was through with him? Had it been so long since they met that she could forget what a different man he had been then?

“Y-you could leave.” She said quietly, “I’d understand.”

He laughed humorlessly. 

“I don’t want to make you stay. I already forced you to come here when you didn’t want to.” She tried again.

“Lara, I’m either leaving with you or I’m staying.” 

“Fuck, don’t put this on me.”

“Well it is on you, so go ahead and make a decision.” He cracked a thin smile. 

“I want to help them somehow.”

“They need information, they don’t have the tech that Claire has in the control room. You don’t have to run out in the jungle with a gun to help.”

Lara nodded slowly, “You’re right. That’s a good idea.” 

She got up and strode into the bathroom, pawing at the bandages until they fell in a stained coil into the sink basin. In the mirror the wounds looked like two dark tiger stripes, absently she wondered what the scars would look like before she covered them again and readied herself for the task at hand.


	14. The Hunt Begins

The engine of the jeep had once again fallen silent, but the area was in no way devoid of sound. With what information they had managed to gather before setting out, Alan, Ellie and Owen followed the raptors to their last known location deep into the thick jungles near the coast of the island. Typically this area was densely populated by a wide range of herbivores and served as a popular attraction for those adventurous tourists looking to get up close and personal with the enormous creatures. Currently, however, it was strangely still. In the past Owen had occasionally walked through the charted trails to clear his head and it was unusual not to see a little dinosaur scurrying past his feet or a much larger one feeding overhead. The birds were as noisy as ever, but it seemed that any forms of life were hesitant to show themselves to the new visitors. 

Ellie Sattler tucked her rifle into her backpack before leaping out of the car. She ghosted a finger over the machete that hung from her hips, both reassuring herself that she had it and preparing for its imminent use. Owen always took the position of a natural leader and neither Ellie nor Alan had a single complaint with that. Although both doctors were well versed in the paleontological side of dinosaur behavioralism, they trust Owen to have a much better grasp of how those behaviors translated into real, living dinosaurs. 

It was immediately clear that the raptors had been here. Even if they hadn’t had evidence beforehand, the claw marks in the dirt were chillingly telling. For meters in front of them, the underbrush was flattened and ravaged, but Ellie was loathe to make assumptions.

“Is it possible that some of the other dinosaurs have been here?” She asked, taking a knee to inspect a large palm from one of the bushes.

“I don’t think so, if the bigger animals had been here we would see a lot more damage to the plants.” 

“And what about the smaller ones?”

“It’s possible, I think the tracks make it pretty clear what we’re dealing with. Dr. Grant?”

Alan was just about on all fours over one of the footprints, running his finger along the indentations made by the claws. 

“I don’t think there’s any reason to debate it, the raptors have clearly been here and that path is our best lead.”

Xx

The raptors weaved in and out of the trees as a pack, moving closer to the center of the island. In their enraged state, the three hardly paused their onslaught, only momentarily did they break formation to pursue a target. In their wake they left hardly more than the picked over corpses of a handful of creatures. 

As suddenly as they had entered the jungle, the velociraptors tore out of it. In an instant, gone were the trees and vines and in their place was nothing but grass. If the raptors noticed any change in their surrounding, they did not show it; they continued to sprint through the landscape as if they were running for their lives. 

Above them, tethered to the cables that ran over the entirety of the park, a motion camera clicked to life and began to feed the live images back to the control room.


	15. The Cracks Widen

Dodgson sat back in his lone wicker chair positioned several meters from his resort on the solitary Costa Rican beach. His briefcase lie open in the sand and one of its contents rolled across the owner’s palm. His sunglasses were pushed forward on the bridge of his nose to better see the vials he now held in his hand. 

Mixed amongst the papers in Sofia’s backpack had been a small box. He hadn’t noticed it at first, all of the papers documenting the genetic makeup of the dinosaurs and the research conducted on the living creatures had been plenty to keep him busy throughout the night. As he read through each sheet, it burned in the back of his mind that this cocky woman had gotten farther with InGen than he could have ever hoped alone. On one hand he ought to be proud, he had picked her up out of nothing and bred her in his image. But no, instead the thought that she might have already surpassed him sat heavy and hot in his chest. 

Loose papers flapped halfheartedly in the breeze as if trying vainly to escape the confines of the briefcase. Without looking down Dodgson toed the case closed, kicking a small amount of sand inside in the process. 

“What do you do?” Dodgson balanced six of the seven vials on his lap, holding the seventh up to his eyes. 

The small label running down the tube only said “Pterodactyl” giving him little insight into the actual purpose of the mystery liquid. Dodgson had to assume that there was some paperwork in the mix that would clue him in, but Sofia hadn’t been kind enough to keep the key and lock together. 

Back in his hotel room he was greeted by the remainder of the several hundred documents that he had not yet had the chance to sort through. He sighed heavily, placing his hat and sunglasses on the dresser as he wondered when he had become an intern rather than the mind behind this whole operation. Nevertheless, he hardly trusted another soul with the information until he had his exit plan together. His orders from BioSyn had been to simply collect the data and present it to the investors at a later date to see what could be a profitable endeavour and what would be sold to the private sector at face value. Now, however, Dodgson wasn’t sure if this would be in his best interests. 

This last mission was no longer for personal gain; his entire career at BioSyn had been a calculated trajectory to increase his power and influence within the company. Now he had reached his endgame. He was being forced out and replaced by his own protege no matter the outcome of this assignment. 

He sat down on the desk and collected the papers that sat atop it into a neat pile. This newest pile was then unceremoniously relegated to the floor where an even larger pile of already read documents was growing at his feet. Dodgson picked up another handful of documents from the bed and set about cataloging the rest. 

Several hours and coffee breaks later Dodgson came across a page that began with a description noticeably similar to that of the mystery vials. 

“You’re fucking kidding me.” He began to smile the further down the paper he read. He wondered if Sofia knew just what she handed over to him. She must have known, he assumed she likely helped Wu design it. Her only oversight then was letting something like this out of her sight. 

Dodgson sprung from the creaky chair, he hurriedly shuffled through the rest of the papers on the bed until he found the remaining pages in the set. He became more certain in his next course of action with each word he read. The chance was too good to miss and the timing was simply too perfect to pass up. 

Without an incentive at BioSyn Dodgson’s only desire now was to burn the whole thing down.


	16. A Fresh Lead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for abandoning this piece for so long, but I finally have some time on my hands and the motivation to write this so I intend to finish the entire work within a month or two. I hope there are people still sticking around with this because I have everything mapped out and am excited to finally complete this monster!
> 
> Here's a quick taste of what's ahead. I expect the next (longer) chapter will be up by Friday.

Lara and Ian had not been welcomed into the control room as much as they had been tolerated. Everyone was too busy to pay any attention to them and, frankly, Claire was banking on them feeding information to Owen and the others. She couldn’t give them updates without taking away supplies and manpower from her own containment team, but knowing that Owen was running around blind with only a shotgun didn’t sit well with her either. 

The motion cameras were sparse and slow to react in the jungle simply because of the dense trees and plants obscuring their vision, but now that the raptors had emerged, the team could track them with astonishing precision. As the velociraptors barrelled across the sun scorched field, everyone in the control room was able to watch them on the screens at resolutions almost befitting a nature documentary. The money poured into the reinvented park hadn’t been purely cosmetic, but Claire was finally beginning to understand that no amount of money could have made the park as safe as they claimed. 

“They appear to be headed towards the aviary.” A man pointed Claire towards the map on his computer, “The camera coordinates on their most recent location are roughly 3 miles from the enclosure.”

“How soon can we get our team on the ground there?”

“Not fast enough to beat them there, but we should be close enough on their tail.”

Claire nodded, “Send them out immediately and if we have enough men, prepare another team to go across the other side of the mountain to try and head them off if they go that way. I want to get ahead of these things as fast as we can.” 

At this development, Lara nudged Ian, “Call Owen.” 

Xx

“Are you anywhere near the aviary?” 

Owen paused and turned around, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, “Yeah, we passed it about 20 minutes ago, I can still see it.”

“The raptors will be coming right at you then. The three of them are still in a pack, you need to get out of there before they run you down. They’re only a few miles away.” Ian urged.

 

“How did we get in front of them? I thought we were chasing their trail.”

The shrieks of the pterodactyls were still loud enough to hear clearly, Owen wondered how long they had until they would hear the raptors too.   
“Just get out of that field. Lara and I are going to try to find a car to get you out of there.” Ian repeated.

“Has Claire sent a containment team?”

“Yes, they’re on their way. So let them take care of this and you get somewhere safe until we can pick you up.”

“We can hold them off until backup gets here. We have enough firepower we’ll be fine. Thanks for the tip, I’ll radio in when all is clear.”

With that he zipped the radio in his backpack and took out his shotgun, “Get ready guys.”

“One raptor for each of us?” Alan asked.

“As long as they didn’t bring friends.” Owen grinned to hide his nerves. 

“Velociraptors aren’t sociable outside their species. Even then I don’t know if I’d call that sociable.” Alan returned the smile. 

“Should we walk back to the aviary or wait for them?” Ellie asked. 

“Let’s go back, at least in the aviary there are places to hide behind if things go south. It’ll be better than open field.”


End file.
